1999-2000 New Issues

Single reference copies of all titles 50% off!

Christus natus hodie.....TC-154.....$1.30
Lana Walter

Bouncy 6/8 to 3/4 metric changes, unified by an ascending figure in the short keyboard interludes, make this joyful Christmas piece a fine concert opener. Suitable for church use as well, the text is a metric version of the Christmas antiphon, "Hodie Christus natus est" ("Christ is born today").

Da pacem Domine (Give Peace in Our Time, O Lord).....TC-159.....$1.00
Håkan Olsson

This powerful plea for peace makes a fine invocation, or opening selection for a concert dedicated to issues of nonviolence, war and peace. Easier than it appears, its clear tonal center provides a firm footing for introducing techniques such as sudden harmonic changes and gradually built tone clusters. Sung by the Peninsula Women's Chorus, Dr. Patricia F. Hennings, Director, at the 1992 Western Division ACDA convention in Honolulu, this piece is exceptionally rewarding for both singers and audience.

Down by the Salley Gardens.....TC-163.....$1.30
arranged by Michael Cleveland

This frankly sentimental Irish ballad of long-lost love has appealing double descants, independent four-part writing for a full soprano and alto range, yummy harmonies and voicing, and an irresistible choral cadenza which imitates the easy movement of the waving grass. Regretful but never self-pitying, the Yeats poem concludes, "But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears."

I Sing of a Maiden.....TC-164.....$1.00
Jennifer Bennett

"He came al so still," repeats the 15th century English text, and this gentle setting, largely in unison, evokes the awed quiet of Christmas night. A deceptively simple minor melody, with eighth-note syncopations, floats over triplets in the spare texture of the accompaniment. Winner of honorable mention in the 1998 Amadeus Choir Christmas Carol and Chanukah Song Writing Competition, Toronto, Ontario.

Listen to the Angels Shouting.....TC-165.....$2.10
arranged by Clifton J. Noble, Jr.

This arrangement is a medley of three spirituals: "Come down, angels," "Listen to the angels," and "My way's cloudy," all from The Story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, one of the earliest printed collections of slave spirituals. In all three, angels are the heavenly messengers who inspire and lead the singers out of bondage into the promised land.
In this arrangement, the angels are not dimpled cherubs, but rather towering figures who energize the singers in their difficult and dangerous journey. Swing rhythm sections alternate with softer sections in straight rhythm, in this fine concert closer with barn-burning piano accompaniment.
The spirituals' Exodus imagery makes this medley suitable for Passover programming, as well as for concerts which honor slave spirituals.

Magnificat.....TC-161.....$1.90
Jeanne E. Shaffer

This setting of the Canticle of Mary is suitable for both church and concert use. A refrain in 5/4 time on the antiphon "for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant" unifies the structure and lends the piece much of its rhythmic vitality and interest. The harmonies—largely diatonic but with some chromatic clashes—are mature, but do not overwhelm the text.
Liturgical use: Evensong; Advent; Annunciation; Feast of the Visitation (May 31).

Malolo (Lullaby on a Samoan text).....TC-158.....$1.10
Annea Lockwood

Mellifluous Samoan lull words, like "manulele" (bird), and "suamalie," (sweet) are the basis for this hypnotic lullaby of repeated and recombined pentatonic patterns. Accessible to average choirs, this piece, with its subtle rhythmic interest and carefully crafted dynamic changes, is rewarding for more advanced choirs as well.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Fairy Songs.....TC-157.....$1.80
Alice Parker

1. Lullaby for Titania ("You spotted snakes")
2. Oberon's Blessing ("Now until the break of day")

These deceptively simple pieces are perfect for use as teaching pieces, and as incidental music for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's comedy of the fairies' enchantment of two pairs of noble lovers and of Bottom the weaver.
As teaching pieces, their pentatonic melodies, limited range, and use of repetition and canon make them ideally suited to Kodaly techniques. Their rhythmic clarity makes them a good vehicle for simple choreography, and the recorder parts can be played by onstage musicians.

Miserere mei, Deus (Have mercy on me, O Lord) from Miserere in D Minor.....TC-149.....$1.80
 Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783), edited by Ralph Hunter

In this opening movement from a major baroque work from the Venetian ospedali repertoire, the choir's sustained, mostly homophonic chords are interwoven with angular chromatic lines in the upper strings. The lower strings and continuo support this texture with detached repeated chords, to make a rich texture of complementary independent parts. Edited by Ralph Hunter from the composer's autograph manuscript, this piece was sung by the 1999 ACDA National Women's Honor Choir in Chicago.

Instrumental parts:

My Girls: Three Songs on Poetry by Lucille Clifton
 Gwyneth Walker
SSA a cappella

  1. This Morning.....TC-151.....$1.80
    "A bright girl, a jungle girl, shining quick as a snake" is the gutsy narrator of this morning song of bold greeting. The voices have strong, syncopated rhythmic figures on "nn" and "la" sounds, and slide upward on "girl" for well-crafted—and enjoyable—instrumental effects.

  2. To My Girls.....TC-152.....$1.50
    "I command you to be good runners," the poet tells her four graceful, nearly grown daughters. Reflective homophonic sections tell the mother's hopes. They alternate with ostinato patterns of simmering energy, reflecting the dancing excitement of four girls ready to burst forth, out into the world.

  3. Sisters.....TC-153.....$2.10
    The most percussive of the set, this "can't wait to do this" piece features schoolyard-style partnered handclap patterns for singers in pairs. That's in addition to finger snaps, and cymbal, brush, and sticks-on-the-rim vocal percussion effects, all painting a lively picture of the "very same place" that "you and me," sisters, come from.

Ronde du crépuscule (Round Dance at Twilight).....TC-166.....$2.10
 Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)

"Ronde du crépuscule," first published in 1909, is a fine example of the effortless, bouyant charm which characterizes Chaminade's music. The text tells the story of the fairy Queen Mab and her unnamed lover, kissing at twilight at the edge of the wood. Attendant elves dance and sing praises of their love. The choral parts are easy, the soaring solo is just made for a soprano who loves to get up on a g'' and hold it, and the ripply piano part is showy without being terribly difficult. This piece is a treat for your and your choir.

Shaker Suite: Three Shaker Spirituals.....TC-162.....$2.10
arranged by Nina Gilbert

  1. Oh the Beautiful Treasure
  2. We Will Walk with Mother and Mourn
  3. Hop Up and Jump Up
Explore the American heritage of Shaker hymnody with these three settings of lesser-known, very appealing Shaker spirituals.
Each brief setting grows from its underlying melody to make an exceptionally unified arrangement. With a different technique as the focus for each arrangement, these minute-long pieces make fine vocalises for your choir. "Oh the beautiful treasure," with its square rhythms, horn calls, and harmonic texture opening out and closing, is excellent for teaching chord tuning. "We will walk with Mother and mourn," with its smooth, stepwise, rising and falling melody, is a fine exercise for legato singing. "Hop up and jump up," with its crisp rhythms and phrase fragments tossed from part to part, calls for rhythmic clarity and clean entrances and cutoffs.
From the Nina Gilbert Choral Series

Shenandoah.....TC-156.....$1.30
 arranged by William Lycan

The haunting melody is variously placed against pedal points, with unison phrase closings, in the alto line, and at close imitation, to give the acoustic feeling of the singers' listening and longing for the sound of the beloved.

Silent Night.....TC-155.....$1.00
arranged by Katherine Dienes

This full, yet gentle setting of the beloved Christmas hymn is perfect for a candlelight service or quiet concert closer. The low, rocking chords of the background choral parts are the same for all three stanzas. Interest is built by the addition of a second-stanza solo and third-stanza descants. Experiment with assigning the descants to instruments, or with supporting or replacing the lower voices with organ.

Tragico tecti syrmate (Clothed with Tragic Robes).....TC-160.....$2.10
Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594)

This angels' lament for the destruction of a city is the crown of Renaissance music for upper voices. While each of the largely syllabic parts is independent, together they interweave in a stately harmonic rhythm, conveying both the dignity of formal mourning, and the richness of the city and its people that are no more. The text, with its images of ice, fire, smoke, and wind-borne ash, is chilling in its prescience of nuclear winter, and in its evocation of past and present wars.
This piece may be appropriately programmed for concerts centered around issues of peace and war, or commemorating the Holocaust or the bombing of Hiroshima.

Übers Gebirg' Maria geht (O'er Judah's Hills, from Nazareth).....TC-150.....$1.60
Johannes Eccard (1553-1611), arranged by by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

This charming, canzonet-style motet was arranged by the young Brahms for his Hamburg women's choir in the late 1850's. The strophic text is based on the account in Luke 1 of Mary's visitation to Elizabeth. Both text and music convey the cousins' joy at seeing one another; the refrain paraphrases the Magnificat. This piece was a favorite of the Hamburg women's choir, performed many times as its members, also, gathered to sing joyfully. Liturgical use: Advent; Feast of the Visitation, May 31.

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