This joyful harvest song may be of particular interest to choral groups within the Jewish tradition, but it may equally prove to be a useful addition to the harvest or thanksgiving repertoire of any choir. The text is taken from World Healing Prayers, with additional text by Linda G Marcus, adapted by the composer. There’s […]
A request by Artistic Director Susan Glass for a new choral work addressing climate change resulted in the creation of “Planet Earth Lullaby.” Composer Rich Campbell contemplated and determined the piece would be both an alarm for help and a call to action. For over a century the internationally recognized distress signal has been the […]
“We Will Shine Like The Sun” is an uptempo piece; this arrangement is for combined SA treble choir & SATB choir with piano accompaniment.. The empowering text inspires imagination with optimistic lyrics that are ideal for young singers. The score includes a driving piano accompaniment, a clapping section, and an optional tambourine part. The rousing […]
This sweet and gentle setting of a classic Southern Harmony hymn features the Alto section in its first verse, then opens out into a joyful depiction of the sensation of flight. The second verse features birdcalls in the piano accompaniment. Recording by First Readings Project. Find the SSAA version of this piece here.
This short SSA piece was written for the University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club. It is an unaccompanied 3-part setting of the poem by the English poet, Robert Herrick. Jaclyn Johnson, Interim Director of the Glee Club said, “This is a WONDERFUL piece! I love that you have composed in an older polyphonic style to match […]
“We Will Shine Like The Sun” is an uptempo, 2 part piece for treble voices. The empowering text inspires imagination with optimistic lyrics that are ideal for young singers. The score includes a driving piano accompaniment, a clapping section, and an optional tambourine part. The rousing ending makes it especially suitable as a program opener […]
This setting of the traditional Harvest hymn, “We plough the fields and scatter”, is written in popular style, a little syncopated. The choir parts are mainly in Unison, with short passages in harmony (SATB). There is also a simple Unison part for the audience/congregation to join in (“All good gifts around us”), and simple percussion […]
Steven Paxton’s RAINDROP SONG is a setting of a whimsical poem by Texas poet Chris Willerton, about a talking raindrop. This short, delightful work for treble choir requires a good pianist, and includes short spoken segments for individual speaker as well as full choir.
This is an a cappella setting of William Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’ for mixed choir (SATB) with some divisions. It may be performed on its own, or preferably as a companion piece to ‘Little Lamb, who made thee?’, also obtainable through Swirly Music. It is suggested that ‘Little Lamb’ be performed first, as there is […]
A 17th-century riddle poem, “I Saw a Peacock With a Fiery Tail” at first seems fantastical: A peacock with a fiery tail! I saw a comet drop down hail! Full of evocative text painting, this choral setting reveals the sense of the poem by dividing each line between the two choirs and then reordering the […]
“We Will Shine Like The Sun” is an uptempo piece; this arrangement is for combined SA treble choir & SATB choir with piano accompaniment.. The empowering text inspires imagination with optimistic lyrics that are ideal for young singers. The score includes a driving piano accompaniment, a clapping section, and an optional tambourine part. The rousing […]
A lyrical carol for SATB choir, this Christmas piece imagines sunrise on the first Christmas morning. “O Gift of Glorious Sunrise” was premiered in Buffalo, NY in December 2015 by the Vocalis Chamber Choir (James Burritt conducting).
“Shenandoah” is a new, rich arrangement for women’s voices. The piano accompaniment is optional but does provide support and some additional harmonies. Your women’s choir or trio will find “Shenandoah” to be well worth the effort. This piece is an excellent concert choice and would also be very appropriate for contests, festivals, and literary events.
This is a simple a cappella setting of William Blake’s poem, ‘Little Lamb, who made thee?’ The two verses are set for SATB, with an optional soprano solo at the beginning. It was written for Sutton Coldfield Chamber Choir, but is suitable for a group of any size, from quartet upwards!
A poignant set of modern-day madrigals is crafted from three exquisite poems by Christina Rossetti that pay homage to the moon. SATB version also available »
Pied Beauty is a short, reverent poem by English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1898). Throughout the first half of this choral setting, the music combines a marcato, dappled polyphony with mixolydian/triadic harmony (a nod to the poet’s era and homeland); then, in the second half, the music’s texture mellows into a smooth homophony with extended […]
SSA settings, with piano accompaniment, of texts by e. e. cummings (in Just), Thomas Dekker (The Merry Month of May), and from Genesis 1:11-12 (First Spring). The style is rhythmically intricate, includes spoken passages, and is rooted in an expanded tonality; the piano accompaniment is virtuosic.
“Winter Stars” was written by Pulitzer Prize winning American poet Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) and was first published in 1920 in the collection “Flame & Shadow.” She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, found acclaim while living in New York City, and became disillusioned in her later years. Perhaps she was writing this poem with World […]
In this fresh, sparkling take on a beloved hymn tune, a perpetual motion accompaniment drives a whirlwind celebration of beauty in the world around us and our ability to perceive it.
Steven Paxton’s VISIONS for SATB choir is a moving setting of the poem by Wisconsin poet Charlotte A. Cote: “You catch sometimes a glimpse of forever — a lake… .” It was commissioned by Paul Rusterholz and the La Crosse Chamber Chorale in celebration of the 1998 Wisconsin Sesquicentennial. Two versions are available, one with […]
To Blossoms To Daffodils Gather ye Rosebuds All three of these poems are by the Seventeenth Century English lyric poet, Robert Herrick (1591-1674). While flowers are referred to in each of them, their main common theme is time – in particular the briefness of our lives here on this earth, and the need to use […]
“Nature Motets” is a set of four pieces for a cappella choir. The texts celebrate nature in all its glory, and are by John Muir, John Ruskin, and Sarah Teasdale. Each movement can be performed as a stand-alone piece.
“To Soar” was premiered on June 3 and 9, 2018 in New York City by Accord Treble Choir, directed by Liz Geisewite. A live recording appears on Accord’s 2019 album Celestial & Terrestrial. I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord’s June 2018 concert program “On Wings.” The piece squeezes […]
Scored for SATB chorus, 2 pianos, and percussion, Most This Amazing is a colorful, pulse-driven setting of E. E. Cummings’ “i thank You God for most this amazing.” The choral writing is well-suited to strong high school, university, or community ensembles, while the piano parts are best approached at a professional level (with one percussionist). […]
A poignant set of modern-day madrigals is crafted from three exquisite poems by Christina Rossetti that pay homage to the moon. SSAA version also available »
This sweet and gentle setting of a classic Southern Harmony hymn features the Alto section in its first verse, then opens out into a joyful depiction of the sensation of flight. The second verse features birdcalls in the piano accompaniment. Recording by First Readings Project. This recording is of the SATB version of the piece, […]
Among The Trees The Clearing Rests In Song and Shade I Go Among the Trees and Sit Still All the Earth Shall Sing (The dark around us, come) Three Songs for SATB Choir & Piano Words by Wendell Berry These three songs are about finding peace and unity within nature. Balance comes to many of […]
This setting of Charles Baudelaire’s iconic poem captures the “luxury” and “voluptuousness” of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s radiant translation. The six-part texture allows for thick, evocative chords in Dole’s jazz-influenced harmonic world. Slowly evolving chord progressions paint a picture of a person truly in love with another, asking that they go on a long journey […]
Golden Apples Of The Sun (SATB, unaccompanied) is a joyful, rhythmic piece with lyrics inspired by a Yeats poem. Accessible, uptempo and exhilarating, it is ideal for civic events and celebrations. It is a dynamic work that is exciting for both performers and listeners. Winner of the Celebration Singers 80th Anniversary Composition Competition.
This delightful piece sets a whimsical poem by the American poet, Susan Kinsolving, about steps taken internationally to make the world a better place. Sanford Dole’s Dance Steps has artistic merit…no one can doubt the artistic merit of Dole’s entertaining piece. I was not looking forward to enduring Susan Kinsolving’s absurdist text, printed in the […]
From an Oregon Bach Festival concert review by Tom Manoff, in the (Eugene, Oregon) Register-Guard , July 11, 2002: “Rebecca Oswald is not a showy composer, but she’s an honorable one. ‘The Soul Contemplates the Creator In the Creation’ is splendid choral writing. This unpretentious style isn’t calculated to impress the trendy set, but in […]
“It’s a beautiful, wonderful world, A world of wonder for all to share; Let us walk together, hand in hand, Spreading peace and friendship throughout the land…” Inspired by a visit to botanical gardens in California, this song is intended to reflect the beauty of nature around us, and to suggest that we should live […]
Composer’s Note: “The Red Wheelbarrow,” an innovative environmental/imagist poem I first read as a teenager, struck me as an alluring and joyful means to immerse in a commission by Austin’s Inversion Ensemble for their Planet Home project. The score blossomed during a fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a pastoral setting that […]
This work won special commendation in the Phoenix Choral Composition Competion (UK) in 2010. It was premiered by the Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury in St. Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury, England in April 2011.
“The Wind” was commissioned by the Organization of American Kodály Educators as a result of Rich Campbell winning the Ruth Boshkoff Composition Prize. The text is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1885 A Child’s Garden of Verses. The choir begins by emulating the sound of the wind, and then sings directly to the wind, describing the […]
A setting for unaccompanied SATB choir (with divisi) of words by Eric Gosney, a poet from England’s Isle of Purbeck. A wistful and nostalgic love song, in which the poet wishes to “thwart old Time’s irrevocable plan and live again those two short hours with you”. These evocative words are set with suitably tender harmonies […]
