The Smallest Song
THE SMALLEST SONG, a setting of a text by American poet Martha Collins, is a gentle piece, full of warmth and intimate emotion. The wordplay in the text is matched in the composition; phrases are slightly altered, inverted and developed as the work builds. Jazz-like harmonies infuse the piece with a soothing vitality throughout.
“A very sensitive setting of a beautiful text – easily accessible for use by college and more advanced high school choral groups – colored by gentle harmonies and a subtle, understated melody, Rich has captured the essence of the poem and placed it in a very moving context.”
— Michael Levi, Director, The College of St. Rose Chamber Choir
| Season or Event: | Winter |
| Descriptive Tags: | Friendship, Love, Music About Music, Poetry, Romance |
| Difficulty: | Intermediate |
| Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
| Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
| Voicing: | SATB |
| Language: | English |
$2.50
This title is available in print or for immediate download. For both options, there is a minimum required quantity of 8 copies for choral titles. Please support self-publishing composers by ordering the quantity according to the number of singers in the ensemble that will perform the work.
Print orders are printed on demand and shipped by our printing partner, and can be expected to be processed within a few days of the order. Please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] to follow up.
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Title | View | Voicing | Duration | Language | Composer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| SATB | 6' | English | 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 […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 5' | English | Apple Pie is a novel, fun, upbeat and humorous tale of two friends searching for their favorite dessert. It was the winner of the Wasatch Chorale Ars Nova Composition Competition; their call for scores asked for a piece suitable for an afternoon family concert. With a rollicking piano part moving it along, the chorus tells […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple Pie is a novel, fun, upbeat and humorous tale of two friends searching for their favorite dessert. It was the winner of the Wasatch Chorale Ars Nova Composition Competition; their call for scores asked for a piece suitable for an afternoon family concert. With a rollicking piano part moving it along, the chorus tells […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 2' 10" | Latin | This communion motet, setting the famous 14th century words attributed to Innocent VI, took the prize in the Composition Competition of The Wessex Festival in August 2016. It has since been sung in venues including Ripon Cathedral, UK. Set largely homophonically for SATB choir without divisions, its well-structured melody is complemented by the texture created […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This communion motet, setting the famous 14th century words attributed to Innocent VI, took the prize in the Composition Competition of The Wessex Festival in August 2016. It has since been sung in venues including Ripon Cathedral, UK. Set largely homophonically for SATB choir without divisions, its well-structured melody is complemented by the texture created […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 6'45" | English | This setting of the Anglican communion/mass service – Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei – is simple and tuneful. The writing is in the tradition of the great English composers of the 20th century. The Gloria is available as a separate anthem through Swirly. It can be performed as a general-purpose anthem or during the […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This setting of the Anglican communion/mass service – Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei – is simple and tuneful. The writing is in the tradition of the great English composers of the 20th century. The Gloria is available as a separate anthem through Swirly. It can be performed as a general-purpose anthem or during the […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 2' | English | Ducks in the Garden is a short a cappella piece based on a very silly poem by Will T. Laughlin. It was premiered in June, 2012 by the San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, Artistic Director. Hear the work performed in the amusing video embedded above. Morning comes — The day is fine; Ducks in […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ducks in the Garden is a short a cappella piece based on a very silly poem by Will T. Laughlin. It was premiered in June, 2012 by the San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, Artistic Director. Hear the work performed in the amusing video embedded above. Morning comes — The day is fine; Ducks in […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SSAA | 4'30" | Latin | Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB ⋅ SSAATTB | 4' | English | “O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” was written for John Patrick Cardinal Foley, the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. It received its first performance on February 11th, 2011 in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican by the Saint Mary’s University Chamber Singers, with the composer conducting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “O Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” was written for John Patrick Cardinal Foley, the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. It received its first performance on February 11th, 2011 in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican by the Saint Mary’s University Chamber Singers, with the composer conducting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 3' 40" | Italian | Due Sonetti de Petrarca are settings of sonnets by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) (1304-1374), great Italian scholar and poet and one of the earliest humanists. The set was written for the Saint Mary’s University Chamber Singers, who premiered the works on their tour of France in March, 2009, with the composer conducting. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Due Sonetti de Petrarca are settings of sonnets by Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) (1304-1374), great Italian scholar and poet and one of the earliest humanists. The set was written for the Saint Mary’s University Chamber Singers, who premiered the works on their tour of France in March, 2009, with the composer conducting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| for Soprano solo, children’s voices (or women’s semichorus), mixed chorus, chamber orchestra and piano. CHR-1504VS | SATB | 11' 00" | English | Rosa mystica is a sacred devotional cantata combining various texts in which a rose or flower is used as an analogy for the Blessed Virgin Mary, including the Rosa Mystica tradition, and Mary as the stem of the rose from which, arising out of the root of Jesse, grew Jesus, the Spotless Rose. In three […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rosa mystica is a sacred devotional cantata combining various texts in which a rose or flower is used as an analogy for the Blessed Virgin Mary, including the Rosa Mystica tradition, and Mary as the stem of the rose from which, arising out of the root of Jesse, grew Jesus, the Spotless Rose. In three […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SSA | 6'30" | English | 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 […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||