My Head Fell Off
The round in Western culture has been associated as closely with wit as it has with praise. Here are thirteen risible rounds of varying difficulty intended for a cappella performance. Admirably suited to treble voices, they may be sung by mixed groups of all ages. The lyrics are light and teasing, the music jaunty and memorable. Any choral performance must benefit from the inclusion of a brace of crowd-pleasing canons!
The composer recommends “partnering” the voices by combining female voices “high-with-low” (SA) and male voices “high-with-low” (TB). Each compound “part” will therefore be comprised of both kinds of voice, ideally in equal numbers.
Over 100 of Brian Kogler’s rounds are now accessible on YouTube. Scores are available for free on request. Please contact: bkogler [at] bigpond [dot] com
Voicing: | Equal Voices, SSAA, SSAB |
Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
Language: | English, Latin |
Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
Season or Event: | General |
Difficulty: | Intermediate, Advanced |
Descriptive Tags: | Fun, Humorous, Light, Silly |
Explore More Music…
Title | View | Voicing | Duration | Language | Composer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SATB | 14' | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB | 1'40" | Latin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sanford Dole’s Ave Maria is a harmonized setting of the Gregorian chant antiphon. The soprano part is a metrical version of the Gregorian chant melody. The other parts create a harmonic world that is uniquely Dole’s; what his choirs refer to as the “Dolian mode.” More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB ⋅ SSAATTB | 25' | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Completed and premiered in 1996, Cycle of Friends is a lush, emotional journey through five texts taken from such diverse sources as Tang Dynasty poetry of China, Sappho and Emily Dickinson, each dealing in its own way with the universal theme of friendship. Cycle of Friends was commissioned and premiered by the Music Group of Philadelphia, Seán […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB | 5' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This composition won first prize in the Longfellow Choral Composition Competition in 2011. I have enjoyed Longfellow’s poetry for many years–“Excelsior” in particular. However, I’ve never managed to develop a huge amount of sympathy for the poem’s protagonist. Here we have a youth who ignores the advice of everyone around him that his journey was […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB ⋅ SSAATTBB | 3' | Latin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
O Lux is at once reminiscent of Renaissance motets and at home in the contemporary canon. The lyrical and ultimately transcendent piece features a cascading theme that is layered canonically. The piece has been performed by both high school and professional choirs. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SA ⋅ SS | 2' | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A sweet and evocative, lyrical piece for treble voices and piano, this delicate song is a setting of a list of paint colors by Martha Stewart. The piece is also available in versions for solo voice and piano (baritone or soprano). It can be performed with or without a video/slide presentation of the paint colors. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SSA | 3'40" | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“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. More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB | 3'30" | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This is a straightforward setting for choir and organ/keyboard of an Appalachian carol found by John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. He discovered this carol in Mayfield, Kentucky in 1933. Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, […] More info & view score » | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SATB | 3' | English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A tender new Christmas lullaby is combined with a solo trumpet, which begins to play “Lo, How a Rose ‘ere Blooming.” Text by Edward Caswall (1814-1878) Mary Breden led her Consort Singers of Loyola Marymount University in the premiere at their 2018 Christmas program. More info & view score » |