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HumorousColleagues, Thanks to all of you for the wonderful responses. Here's what I've received, and what a terrific list it is! (Sorry for any repeats.) Original post: Bing Vick's wonderful session at ACDA on humor in music prompts me to > try to collect more such pieces. I checked the choralnet archives for > something on humor and didn't find anything, so i am volunteering to > receive emails on pieces that are humorous and eventually compile > them. > > We'll take ALL PDQ Bach pieces as a given! > Responses: Choralnet.org has three files already (which I missed), under resources, concerning humor. I can't find the middle one; perhaps someone can help. Try these: http://choralnet.org/resources/896 http://choralnet.org/resources/836 http://choralnet.org/resources/904 (Thanks, Allen!) Other responses: Do you know the choral parody on Schubert's Trout theme. Successive movements are done in the styles of various composers. It is very clever. Male Ensemble Northwest has done two TTBB arrangements that are funny, but I do not l know if they exist only in manuscript. One is a setting of a marvelous limerick (the one that includes something about not being "fussy for Brahms or Debussy") by a composer who was at the University of Oregon. It would be worth an investigation. The other is a compilation by Vijay Singh of TV commercials that plays a lot on "Car 54, where are you?" Funny piece. Oh, heavens. The Rossini Cat Duet, any Anna Russell, any Hoffnung Festival. "The Little White Hen" by Scandello "Neighbor's Chorus" by Offenbach "O, No John" arr. by Miller "Football!" by Dobbins SSA: Beautiful Yet Truthful by Pfautsch SATB: The Argument by Nesta I have two original works that are meant to be humorous. One is "Our Conductor" which is a round that secretly lambasts the conductor and the other is "The Birds" which sings about the beautiful birds until they decide to deliver a "package" on the new car. Ken Langer Music Department Lyndon State College Lyndonville VT 05851 e-mail: LangerK(a)mail.lsc.vsc.edu home page: http://www.together.net/~artists2/main.html Mark Foster Music Co. is bringing out my " A Lewis Carroll Sampler " this Spring. 3 of the 4 movements are funny. Sincerely, Robert Jordahl Michael Flanders and Donald Swann "Ill Wind" . This is a marvellous piece about the singer's misfortunes with the French horn, done to the tune of a well-known movement from a Mozart horn concerto. The Mastersingers "Weather Forecast" and "The Highway Code". These are classics of British comedy recorded by a group of English schoolmasters in the 50's. "Weather Forecast" is a British Isles weather forecast done to Anglican chant, while "The Highw ay Code" uses Anglican chant, Enalish folksong tradition and Gilbert and Sullivan in a hilarious description of the British rules of the road. Garrison Keeler "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra". Thiis one parodies Britten by using hymn tunes and a narrative addressing the question of which instrument is most suitable for a young Christian. Its "Turkey in the Straw" version of "Jesus Loves Me" is priceless. My 'El Hambo', a sort of folk dance spoof indirectly inspired by the Swedish Chef in the Muppet Show, was performed at the ACDA convention in Chicago by the Ensemble Singers from Minnesota. Another piece in a similar vein is 'Pseudo-Yoik'. Both have been excellently received, particularly as encores. Both are listed in choralmusic.org and are published by Sulasol (the Finnish Amateur Musicians' Association). 'El Hambo' has been or is about to be sub-published by Walton. Jaakko Mantyjarvi Helsinki, Finland Jenks's Vegetable Compound from the King's Singers 'Victorian Collection' Any good arrangement on items which the Comedian Harmonists sang I'll nominate 'Father William' by Irving Fine - maybe the other two as well, but I can't recall them off the top of my head. (There are several worth looking at my Fine, for mixed as well as men's or women's: Beautiful Soup, Lobster Quadrille, White Knight... Also some of Copland's American songs: Ching a ring, Bought me a Cat, come to mind. And the night shall be filled with music. -Longfellow Jabberwocky - Sam Pottle - terrific ender. Trigon Music Mecham's Love and Pizen (poison) from Choral Variations on American Folk Songs - G Schirmer/Hal Leonard Feller from Fortune, arr. Somers, G Thompson Music/Walton(?) The Banks of the Ohio - Gwyneth Walker, ESC Insalata Italiana - R. Genee Farewell Overture, Belmont A Chorister's Covert Concert - George Mabrey Mateo Flecha's collection in Monuments of SPanish Music (or some such collection) titles Las Ensaladas (Tossed salads), especially El Fuego. Try any pieces by the British tuba player Gerard Hoffnung or the Canadian classical comedienne Anna Russell. My husband has LPs (can you tell how old we are?) with names and numbers. Let me know if you want more info. chague(a)hawk.igs.net I am publishing a piece in the CME series with Boosey and Hawkes entitled "The Laughing Song". It is a setting of William Blake's poem and it is for two- part treble voices and piano. Valerie Shields Christopher Johnson, Senior Editor and Manager, Oxford: Our new anthology "Encores for Choirs" includes: Andrew Carter's arrangement of "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" John Rutter: "Banquet Fugue" (involves real belching) Jonathan Willcocks: "Drunken Sailor" Frederick Bridge: "The Goslings" Richard Genee, arr. C.E. Rowley: "Italian Salad" John Whitworth (arr.): "The Mermaid" Grayston Ives: "Name That Tune" Andrew Carter: "Two for the Price of One" (does to "This Old Man" what SHOULD be done to "This Old Man") David Blackburn (arr.): "Ding Dong! Merrily on High: Deathknell for a popular carol, for belles, bell-boys, and campanologists" (absolute bedlam) For treble voices: Andrew Carter: "Fred" (8-part round) James Bennighof: "The Juggler" and "Looking for a Rhyme" For TTBB: Noel Goemanne: "Two Tongue Twisters" Michael Flanders and Donald Swann "Ill Wind" . This is a marvellous piece about the singer's misfortunes with the French horn, done to the tune of a well-known movement from a Mozart horn concerto. The Mastersingers "Weather Forecast" and "The Highway Code". These are classics of British comedy recorded by a group of English schoolmasters in the 50's. "Weather Forecast" is a British Isles weather forecast done to Anglican chant, while "The Highw ay Code" uses Anglican chant, Enalish folksong tradition and Gilbert and Sullivan in a hilarious description of the British rules of the road. Garrison Keeler "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra". Thiis one parodies Britten by using hymn tunes and a narrative addressing the question of which instrument is most suitable for a young Christian. Its "Turkey in the Straw" version of "Jesus Loves Me" is priceless. How about the Toch Geographical Fugue? (And Toch's Valse?) A Mad Madrigal - Percy Wicker MacDonald It is POP but you can easily get permission to reproduce it for $.75 a copy - Lorenz #2144 Auction Cries - John Briggs - or is it Biggs (?) - SATB - a list of farm implements sold at auction...can't find my copy Phonophobia - Alice Parker - I think it's Hinshaw, but it might be out of print - 4 movements - tongue twisters - parts are difficult The King's Singers "Masterpiece" Hinshaw HMB-165 7 individual "songs' after the style of composers. 1. Fugue (Bach) 2.Introduction and Gigue (Handel) 3. Cavatina (Mozart) 4. Largo Lugubrioso (Beethoven) 5. Lied Ohne Worte (Mendelssohn) 6. Waltz (J. Strauss) 7. Danse Antique (Debussy) How about the following: Can't think of composers right now-- "Banquet Fugue" (Rutter) "Concerto for Singing Chickens"(great one), "Concertschtick" Was Jean Belmont's "Farewell Overture" mentioned? I heard it at the 1995 National Convention in Washington and almost fell out of my chair laughing. I'm a 22-year barbershopper in the Chicago area & appreciate a good musical joke--often, the more subtle, the better. I'm not familiar with Bob Vick's presentation on humor in music, but there's an abundance of humorous arrangements to be found in the barbershop world. While many of those arrangements were written for quartets, as a rule of thumb, a quartet arrangement ought to work OK for a male chorus. If you have any interest in investigating works in this genre, I'd recommend you start by getting in touch with Dr. Greg Lyne, Director of Musical Education for SPEBSQSA (the international Barbershop Harmony Society). The Society's web site is at http://www.spebsqsa.org, and Greg's e-mail address is glyne(a)spebsqsa.org. Incidentally, barbershoppers also have a listserv, similar to ChoraList, called the Harmonet. You can access the Harmonet through the Society's home page; if you choose to subscribe to the Harmonet (free of charge, just as with ChoraList), you can pose the same question to all the 1,000+ Harmonetters. One of those Harmonetters is Jay Giallombardo, the director of the larger of the two barbershop choruses I sing with, the New Tradition (current & six-time SPEBSQSA international silver medalists--home page at http://www.newtradition.org). Jay is a superb & prolific arranger, highly recognized throughout the barbershop world, and another individual who can be considered a musical authority among & beyond barbershopping--if you favor vocal music of a more classical nature, you may be interested to know he wrote an outstanding arrangement of the William Tell Overture for his former quartet, Grandma's Boys. >From Handel's oratorio "L'Allegro..." is a great laughing chorus called "Haste Thee, Nymph" Purcell Shivering Chorus ("see see see...") from King Arthur There is a published arrangement of Alan Sherman's "No One's Perfect," about choral mishaps. "Crows and Clusters" is a bit strange. (Della Joio????) I have used "Getting Married" from Sondheim's "Company" on my programs. It is mostly 3 soloists with a choral backup, but it's a killer piece if you have a good Amy. Not exactly humorous, but definitely satirical, is my *Departmental* (on a little-known text about ants by Robert Frost) for SATB, S solo, pno 4-hands. Robert Ross *Old Horatius Had a Farm* ("Old McDonald" in Latin)--Z. Randall Stroope (Mark Foster) Lloyd Pfautsch: *St. Bridget* (SSAA; Lawson Gould) Carl Zytowsky: *Ave Mater Anser!* (3 nursery rhymes in Latin; coupled with composer parodies of Handel, Schubert & Orff) (Hinshaw) Tom Cunningham, Merry Christmas Jazz, a fun version of "We wish you a merry Christmas". With sparkling jazz piano accompaniment or can also be sung a cappella. For SATB with optional Children's Choir. Published by Hinshaw HMC-1029. Tom Cunningham, The Good-Bye Jazz, for SATB a cappella or with optional jazz-piano accompaniment. Published by Roberton (UK). In the Theodore Presser catalog, reference 392-00797. A fun encore for SATB choir with optional piano. Love Lost by Paul Sjolund I have kept a file over the years on Humor in Music. Originally I was going to devote an entire program to it, but realized that it was too much of a good thing! Also humor in choral pieces is often times in the ear of the beholder - e.g. Many of the madrigals in the "Chester Books" series are humorous: Animals, Smoking and Drinking, Desireable Women, Love and Marriage, etc. Here are a couple of my favorites: Haydn, Harmony in Marriage; Richard Proulx, The Choirmaster at the Pearly Gates (Sacred Music Press); Jean Belmont, Farewell Overture; and of course dozens of Madrigal Comedies. Ding Dong! Merrily on High; Blackwell, David arr; SATB, a cappella a kick, but not for folks who eschew minor slapstick. part of the score is written upside-down, requiring whole choir to flip their scores Thoughts and Remembrances, III. 6 Pence; Berkey, Jackson; SATB Sing a song of... Island Queen, The; DeCormier, Robert; SATB Three Jazz Canons: 3. Ice Cream Recollections; Drotos, Ron; SATB, a cappella take a ridiculous idea, add good writing and perform it poker-faced Smieklis Man; Kalnins, Aldonis arr; SSAA Latvian; 'somewhat' humorous Feast, The: 1. Honeycomb; Petker, Robert; SATB Feast, The: 2. On Tomato Ketchup; Petker, Robert; SATB Feast, The: 3. Eating Song; Petker, Robert; SATB Madrigal for Brother John, A; Porter, Steven; SA, a cappella Got So Tired (Umorilas); anon; Prokhorov, Vadim, ed; SSAA, a cappella Russia Four Lewis Carroll Songs: 1. Turtle Soup; Thomas, Karen; SATB, a cappella Tweedledum and Tweedledee; Zimmerman; SATB trouble is, I never outgrew Alice... Prepositions; Varner, Joan; SA Long John Done Gone; Harnston; SATB Whiffenpoof Song, The; Minningerode/Valley; TTBB Magazine Madrigals; Hayland; SATB Donkey Serenade; Stothart/Marlow; TTBB Noisy Three, The; Willis/Luten; TTBB Old Mother Hubbard; Hely-Hutchinson/Diack; TTBB Waltzing Matilda; Wood arr; TTBB Swinging On a Star; Henson/Burke; SATB A Policeman's Lot; Gilbert & Sullivan/Gray; TTBB Old Mother Hubbard; Hutchinson, ?; TTBB Love Me Or Leave Me; Kahn; SATB Crawdad Song, The; Lewis; 2-part Cries of London, The; Gibbons/Stevens; SATB Philological: Lament for Cocoa;Arnatt, Ronald;SATB, a cappella Philological;Arnatt, Ronald;SATB, a cappella Philological: Shipbored; Arnatt, Ronald; SATB, a cappella Philological: Pooem; Arnatt, Ronald; SATB, a cappella Heart of the Fugue, The; Leaf, Robert;SATB, a cappella Streets of Laredo, The; Pfautsch, Lloyd;TTBB Mouse Madrigal, The; Porter, Steven arr;SSA as in Three Blind... Alouette; Sund, Robert; SATB, a cappella poker face again Down Steers the Bass; Billings, William; SATB voices exemplify their quality and motion Love Lost; Sjolund, Paul, SATB a cappella four very short songs, each with a punch line. I think it's a "must do" Richard Genee: Insalata italiana choir SATB, Soli S,T,B Parody on an opera scene, Publisher: Schott I too, loved Bing's presentation. Many years ago, when I taught high school, I did a piece called "Monotone Angel" on the Christmas concert which was terrific. Also...for women, "The Ballad of Nancy Dee" by John Gardner "A Woman's World" (texts by Dorothy Parker) by Carey Blyton. Jean Berger has several SATB sets, including "Good, Betyter, Best" and "Bits of Wisdom." Dan Pinkham - Bugs (ECS?) Kjell Linna: We're the Choir (Walton?) Robert Sund: Drunken Sailor (Walton?) Libby Larsen: And Sparrows Everywhere (esp #1, Chameleon Wedding) S. Chatman: from Due North: Mosquitoes Woodpecker S. Chatman: An Old Man he Courted me - Jaymar S. Chatman: Lukey's Boat - Jaymar Lars Edlund, Two Scandanavian Folksong, #2, 15 Finns - walton A Maiden is in a Ring - Walton Sol Berkowitz, Antidisestablishmentariaism - Elkan-Vogel Earl George, Laughing Song - Summy-Birchard marcel Frank, The Owl and the Pussycat - G Schirmer William Schuman - Mail-Order MAdrigals (Sear's Catalogue texts) William Schuman - Singaling (Spiritual Blues) - from "Esses" - Presser Seufert, Friday Mornings, Jenson Karen Thomas, Four Lewis Carroll Songs: Turtle Sup, Father William, Jabberwocky, Speak Rougholy - Jaymar Music Alec Wilder - Lullabies and Nightsongs, arr. Don Lang - Boosey (great stuff!) arr. WIlliam Lock, Oliver Cromwell, Woodland/Antara Bergsma, Riddle Me this, ECS DeCormier, Play Party, LAwson-Gould Andrew Carter, two for the Price of One, Banks Muisc R. Boberg, The Computer - Alfred Music R. Wernick, The 11th Commandment, Presser Mouret-Kauffman, Masterscat - Carl Fischer (and other Swingle-type arrangements of famous tunes) tom Lehrer/Metis, Pollution - Alfred Sjolund - Lost Love - Walton Patterson - Spare Parts McKelvy - The Ten-Minute Messiah - Mark Foster Music Robert SUnd - Allouette Delolo Joio - Of Crows and Clusters Gregg Smith - Doo-Wop Madrigals (Cool April, etc) Jannequin - Chant des Oyseaux John Biggs - uction Cries McKelvy - Deck the Halls in 7/8 - Mark Foster Kubik, Polly Wolly Doodle Rao LappersCl (??) - Vanitas Nanitatum Pfautsch, Songs Mein Grossmama Sang Mary Lycan, Housekeeper's Tragedy - terble Clef Press Mary Lycan - The Sow took the measles - Hinshaw Hicken - Thy body - Thomas House Pub Russavage, Social Commentary - dkrudop(a)pen.k12.va.us Offenbach - Neighbor's Chorus Rutter - The Terrible Tale of Tom Gilligan - Hinshaw K. Shaw - Save the Bones for Henry Jones - Hal Leonard Lojeski - Yippi Ti Yi Yo - MCA Music Handel - Haste Thee Nymph Mulholland - OH See How Thick the Goldcup Flowers the following are old and may or may not be POP: Don Wright - Eeny Meeny Miney Moe - Hall & McCreary\ Harry Simeone - This Old Man - Shawnee Harry R. Wilson - Two Concert Rounds (Three Blind Mice) - Hall & MCCreary Salli Terri - Frere JAcques - Lawson-Gould Whitcomb - Go Marry - Witmark Scarmolin - A Man of Words Not fo Deeds - Ricordi Peter Stone - Drunken Sailor - Pro Art Publ. Orff - #13 and 14 of Carmina - Tavern Scene (Wafna + In Taberna) - TBB, piano(s) and percussion - can also add women octave above and make it SSATBB - works!) Apologies for typos!!!! DJ Dear Colleagues: Thanks so much to all who responded --- I now have enough titles to fill six or seven concerts. The compilation is below. Ted Reid Fountain Valley High School Fountain Valley, CA The PDQ BACH "Knock-Knock Cantata." "The Art of the Ground Round" by Peter Schickle Jean Belmont's Farewell Overture is a kick! How about "Intermission" by the Carpenters Love Lost by Paul Sjolund the piece performed in San Diego at the National Convention that dealt with the choirs perspective of the conductor. It was called "A Chorister's Covert Concert" by George Mabry (Dean Music) We'll Be Right Back "Banquet Fugue" of Rutter Do you know the choral parody on Schubert's Trout theme. Successive movements are done in the styles of various composers. It is very clever. Male Ensemble Northwest has done two TTBB arrangements that are funny, but I do not l know if they exist only in manuscript. One is a setting of a marvelous limerick (the one that includes something about not being "fussy for Brahms or Debussy") by a composer who was at the University of Oregon. It would be worth an investigation. The other is a compilation by Vijay Singh of TV commercials that plays a lot on "Car 54, where are you?" Funny piece. The Rossini Cat Duet, any Anna Russell, any Hoffnung Festival. "The Little White Hen" by Scandello "Neighbor's Chorus" by Offenbach "O, No John" arr. by Miller "Football!" by Dobbins SSA: Beautiful Yet Truthful by Pfautsch SATB: The Argument by Nesta I have two original works that are meant to be humorous. One is "Our Conductor" which is a round that secretly lambasts the conductor and the other is "The Birds" which sings about the beautiful birds until they decide to deliver a "package" on the new car. Ken Langer Music Department Lyndon State College Lyndonville VT 05851 e-mail: LangerK(a)mail.lsc.vsc.edu home page: http://www.together.net/~artists2/main.html Mark Foster Music Co. is bringing out my " A Lewis Carroll Sampler " this Spring. 3 of the 4 movements are funny. Sincerely, Robert Jordahl Michael Flanders and Donald Swann "Ill Wind" . This is a marvellous piece about the singer's misfortunes with the French horn, done to the tune of a well-known movement from a Mozart horn concerto. The Mastersingers "Weather Forecast" and "The Highway Code". These are classics of British comedy recorded by a group of English schoolmasters in the 50's. "Weather Forecast" is a British Isles weather forecast done to Anglican chant, while "The Highway Code" uses Anglican chant, Enalish folksong tradition and Gilbert and Sullivan in a hilarious description of the British rules of the road. Garrison Keeler "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra". Thiis one parodies Britten by using hymn tunes and a narrative addressing the question of which instrument is most suitable for a young Christian. Its "Turkey in the Straw" version of "Jesus Loves Me" is priceless. My 'El Hambo', a sort of folk dance spoof indirectly inspired by the Swedish Chef in the Muppet Show, was performed at the ACDA convention in Chicago by the Ensemble Singers from Minnesota. Another piece in a similar vein is 'Pseudo-Yoik'. Both have been excellently received, particularly as encores. Both are listed in choralmusic.org and are published by Sulasol (the Finnish Amateur Musicians' Association). 'El Hambo' has been or is about to be sub-published by Walton. Jaakko Mantyjarvi Helsinki, Finland Jenks's Vegetable Compound from the King's Singers 'Victorian Collection' Any good arrangement on items which the Comedian Harmonists sang I'll nominate 'Father William' by Irving Fine - maybe the other two as well, but I can't recall them off the top of my head. (There are several worth looking at my Fine, for mixed as well as men's or women's: Beautiful Soup, Lobster Quadrille, White Knight... Also some of Copland's American songs: Ching a ring, Bought me a Cat, come to mind. And the night shall be filled with music. -Longfellow Jabberwocky - Sam Pottle - terrific ender. Trigon Music Mecham's Love and Pizen (poison) from Choral Variations on American Folk Songs - G Schirmer/Hal Leonard Feller from Fortune, arr. Somers, G Thompson Music/Walton(?) The Banks of the Ohio - Gwyneth Walker, ESC Insalata Italiana - R. Genee Farewell Overture, Belmont A Chorister's Covert Concert - George Mabrey Mateo Flecha's collection in Monuments of SPanish Music (or some such collection) titles Las Ensaladas (Tossed salads), especially El Fuego. Try any pieces by the British tuba player Gerard Hoffnung or the Canadian classical comedienne Anna Russell. My husband has LPs (can you tell how old we are?) with names and numbers. Let me know if you want more info. chague(a)hawk.igs.net I am publishing a piece in the CME series with Boosey and Hawkes entitled "The Laughing Song". It is a setting of William Blake's poem and it is for two- part treble voices and piano. Valerie Shields Christopher Johnson, Senior Editor and Manager, Oxford: Our new anthology "Encores for Choirs" includes: Andrew Carter's arrangement of "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" John Rutter: "Banquet Fugue" (involves real belching) Jonathan Willcocks: "Drunken Sailor" Frederick Bridge: "The Goslings" Richard Genee, arr. C.E. Rowley: "Italian Salad" John Whitworth (arr.): "The Mermaid" Grayston Ives: "Name That Tune" Andrew Carter: "Two for the Price of One" (does to "This Old Man" what SHOULD be done to "This Old Man") David Blackburn (arr.): "Ding Dong! Merrily on High: Deathknell for a popular carol, for belles, bell-boys, and campanologists" (absolute bedlam) For treble voices: Andrew Carter: "Fred" (8-part round) James Bennighof: "The Juggler" and "Looking for a Rhyme" For TTBB: Noel Goemanne: "Two Tongue Twisters" Michael Flanders and Donald Swann "Ill Wind" . This is a marvellous piece about the singer's misfortunes with the French horn, done to the tune of a well-known movement from a Mozart horn concerto. The Mastersingers "Weather Forecast" and "The Highway Code". These are classics of British comedy recorded by a group of English schoolmasters in the 50's. "Weather Forecast" is a British Isles weather forecast done to Anglican chant, while "The Highw ay Code" uses Anglican chant, Enalish folksong tradition and Gilbert and Sullivan in a hilarious description of the British rules of the road. Garrison Keeler "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra". Thiis one parodies Britten by using hymn tunes and a narrative addressing the question of which instrument is most suitable for a young Christian. Its "Turkey in the Straw" version of "Jesus Loves Me" is priceless. How about the Toch Geographical Fugue? (And Toch's Valse?) A Mad Madrigal - Percy Wicker MacDonald It is POP but you can easily get permission to reproduce it for $.75 a copy - Lorenz #2144 Auction Cries - John Briggs - or is it Biggs (?) - SATB - a list of farm implements sold at auction...can't find my copy Phonophobia - Alice Parker - I think it's Hinshaw, but it might be out of print - 4 movements - tongue twisters - parts are difficult The King's Singers "Masterpiece" Hinshaw HMB-165 7 individual "songs' after the style of composers. 1. Fugue (Bach) 2.Introduction and Gigue (Handel) 3. Cavatina (Mozart) 4. Largo Lugubrioso (Beethoven) 5. Lied Ohne Worte (Mendelssohn) 6. Waltz (J. Strauss) 7. Danse Antique (Debussy) How about the following: Can't think of composers right now-- "Banquet Fugue" (Rutter) "Concerto for Singing Chickens"(great one), "Concertschtick" Was Jean Belmont's "Farewell Overture" mentioned? I heard it at the 1995 National Convention in Washington and almost fell out of my chair laughing. I'm a 22-year barbershopper in the Chicago area & appreciate a good musical joke--often, the more subtle, the better. I'm not familiar with Bob Vick's presentation on humor in music, but there's an abundance of humorous arrangements to be found in the barbershop world. While many of those arrangements were written for quartets, as a rule of thumb, a quartet arrangement ought to work OK for a male chorus. If you have any interest in investigating works in this genre, I'd recommend you start by getting in touch with Dr. Greg Lyne, Director of Musical Education for SPEBSQSA (the international Barbershop Harmony Society). The Society's web site is at http://www.spebsqsa.org, and Greg's e-mail address is glyne(a)spebsqsa.org. Incidentally, barbershoppers also have a listserv, similar to ChoraList, called the Harmonet. You can access the Harmonet through the Society's home page; if you choose to subscribe to the Harmonet (free of charge, just as with ChoraList), you can pose the same question to all the 1,000+ Harmonetters. One of those Harmonetters is Jay Giallombardo, the director of the larger of the two barbershop choruses I sing with, the New Tradition (current & six-time SPEBSQSA international silver medalists--home page at http://www.newtradition.org). Jay is a superb & prolific arranger, highly recognized throughout the barbershop world, and another individual who can be considered a musical authority among & beyond barbershopping--if you favor vocal music of a more classical nature, you may be interested to know he wrote an outstanding arrangement of the William Tell Overture for his former quartet, Grandma's Boys. >From Handel's oratorio "L'Allegro..." is a great laughing chorus called "Haste Thee, Nymph" Purcell Shivering Chorus ("see see see...") from King Arthur There is a published arrangement of Alan Sherman's "No One's Perfect," about choral mishaps. "Crows and Clusters" is a bit strange. (Della Joio????) I have used "Getting Married" from Sondheim's "Company" on my programs. It is mostly 3 soloists with a choral backup, but it's a killer piece if you have a good Amy. Not exactly humorous, but definitely satirical, is my *Departmental* (on a little-known text about ants by Robert Frost) for SATB, S solo, pno 4-hands. Robert Ross *Old Horatius Had a Farm* ("Old McDonald" in Latin)--Z. Randall Stroope (Mark Foster) Lloyd Pfautsch: *St. Bridget* (SSAA; Lawson Gould) Carl Zytowsky: *Ave Mater Anser!* (3 nursery rhymes in Latin; coupled with composer parodies of Handel, Schubert & Orff) (Hinshaw) Tom Cunningham, Merry Christmas Jazz, a fun version of "We wish you a merry Christmas". With sparkling jazz piano accompaniment or can also be sung a cappella. For SATB with optional Children's Choir. Published by Hinshaw HMC-1029. Tom Cunningham, The Good-Bye Jazz, for SATB a cappella or with optional jazz-piano accompaniment. Published by Roberton (UK). In the Theodore Presser catalog, reference 392-00797. A fun encore for SATB choir with optional piano. Love Lost by Paul Sjolund I have kept a file over the years on Humor in Music. Originally I was going to devote an entire program to it, but realized that it was too much of a good thing! Also humor in choral pieces is often times in the ear of the beholder - e.g. Many of the madrigals in the "Chester Books" series are humorous: Animals, Smoking and Drinking, Desireable Women, Love and Marriage, etc. Here are a couple of my favorites: Haydn, Harmony in Marriage; Richard Proulx, The Choirmaster at the Pearly Gates (Sacred Music Press); Jean Belmont, Farewell Overture; and of course dozens of Madrigal Comedies. Ding Dong! Merrily on High; Blackwell, David arr; SATB, a cappella a kick, but not for folks who eschew minor slapstick. part of the score is written upside-down, requiring whole choir to flip their scores Thoughts and Remembrances, III. 6 Pence; Berkey, Jackson; SATB Sing a song of... Island Queen, The; DeCormier, Robert; SATB Three Jazz Canons: 3. Ice Cream Recollections; Drotos, Ron; SATB, a cappella take a ridiculous idea, add good writing and perform it poker-faced Smieklis Man; Kalnins, Aldonis arr; SSAA Latvian; 'somewhat' humorous Feast, The: 1. Honeycomb; Petker, Robert; SATB Feast, The: 2. On Tomato Ketchup; Petker, Robert; SATB Feast, The: 3. Eating Song; Petker, Robert; SATB Madrigal for Brother John, A; Porter, Steven; SA, a cappella Got So Tired (Umorilas); anon; Prokhorov, Vadim, ed; SSAA, a cappella Russia Four Lewis Carroll Songs: 1. Turtle Soup; Thomas, Karen; SATB, a cappella Tweedledum and Tweedledee; Zimmerman; SATB trouble is, I never outgrew Alice... Prepositions; Varner, Joan; SA Long John Done Gone; Harnston; SATB Whiffenpoof Song, The; Minningerode/Valley; TTBB Magazine Madrigals; Hayland; SATB Donkey Serenade; Stothart/Marlow; TTBB Noisy Three, The; Willis/Luten; TTBB Old Mother Hubbard; Hely-Hutchinson/Diack; TTBB Waltzing Matilda; Wood arr; TTBB Swinging On a Star; Henson/Burke; SATB A Policeman's Lot; Gilbert & Sullivan/Gray; TTBB Old Mother Hubbard; Hutchinson, ?; TTBB Love Me Or Leave Me; Kahn; SATB Crawdad Song, The; Lewis; 2-part Cries of London, The; Gibbons/Stevens; SATB Philological: Lament for Cocoa;Arnatt, Ronald;SATB, a cappella Philological;Arnatt, Ronald;SATB, a cappella Philological: Shipbored; Arnatt, Ronald; SATB, a cappella Philological: Pooem; Arnatt, Ronald; SATB, a cappella Heart of the Fugue, The; Leaf, Robert;SATB, a cappella Streets of Laredo, The; Pfautsch, Lloyd;TTBB Mouse Madrigal, The; Porter, Steven arr;SSA as in Three Blind... Alouette; Sund, Robert; SATB, a cappella poker face again Down Steers the Bass; Billings, William; SATB voices exemplify their quality and motion Love Lost; Sjolund, Paul, SATB a cappella four very short songs, each with a punch line. I think it's a "must do" Richard Genee: Insalata italiana choir SATB, Soli S,T,B Parody on an opera scene, Publisher: Schott I too, loved Bing's presentation. Many years ago, when I taught high school, I did a piece called "Monotone Angel" on the Christmas concert which was terrific. Also...for women, "The Ballad of Nancy Dee" by John Gardner "A Woman's World" (texts by Dorothy Parker) by Carey Blyton. Jean Berger has several SATB sets, including "Good, Betyter, Best" and "Bits of Wisdom." Dan Pinkham - Bugs (ECS?) Kjell Linna: We're the Choir (Walton?) Robert Sund: Drunken Sailor (Walton?) Libby Larsen: And Sparrows Everywhere (esp #1, Chameleon Wedding) S. Chatman: from Due North: Mosquitoes Woodpecker S. Chatman: An Old Man he Courted me - Jaymar S. Chatman: Lukey's Boat - Jaymar Lars Edlund, Two Scandanavian Folksong, #2, 15 Finns - walton A Maiden is in a Ring - Walton Sol Berkowitz, Antidisestablishmentariaism - Elkan-Vogel Earl George, Laughing Song - Summy-Birchard marcel Frank, The Owl and the Pussycat - G Schirmer William Schuman - Mail-Order MAdrigals (Sear's Catalogue texts) William Schuman - Singaling (Spiritual Blues) - from "Esses" - Presser Seufert, Friday Mornings, Jenson Karen Thomas, Four Lewis Carroll Songs: Turtle Sup, Father William, Jabberwocky, Speak Rougholy - Jaymar Music Alec Wilder - Lullabies and Nightsongs, arr. Don Lang - Boosey (great stuff!) arr. WIlliam Lock, Oliver Cromwell, Woodland/Antara Bergsma, Riddle Me this, ECS DeCormier, Play Party, LAwson-Gould Andrew Carter, two for the Price of One, Banks Muisc R. Boberg, The Computer - Alfred Music R. Wernick, The 11th Commandment, Presser Mouret-Kauffman, Masterscat - Carl Fischer (and other Swingle-type arrangements of famous tunes) tom Lehrer/Metis, Pollution - Alfred Sjolund - Lost Love - Walton Patterson - Spare Parts McKelvy - The Ten-Minute Messiah - Mark Foster Music Robert SUnd - Allouette Delolo Joio - Of Crows and Clusters Gregg Smith - Doo-Wop Madrigals (Cool April, etc) Jannequin - Chant des Oyseaux John Biggs - uction Cries McKelvy - Deck the Halls in 7/8 - Mark Foster Kubik, Polly Wolly Doodle Rao LappersCl (??) - Vanitas Nanitatum Pfautsch, Songs Mein Grossmama Sang Mary Lycan, Housekeeper's Tragedy - terble Clef Press Mary Lycan - The Sow took the measles - Hinshaw Hicken - Thy body - Thomas House Pub Russavage, Social Commentary - dkrudop(a)pen.k12.va.us Offenbach - Neighbor's Chorus Rutter - The Terrible Tale of Tom Gilligan - Hinshaw K. Shaw - Save the Bones for Henry Jones - Hal Leonard Lojeski - Yippi Ti Yi Yo - MCA Music Handel - Haste Thee Nymph Mulholland - OH See How Thick the Goldcup Flowers the following are old and may or may not be POP: Don Wright - Eeny Meeny Miney Moe - Hall & McCreary\ Harry Simeone - This Old Man - Shawnee Harry R. Wilson - Two Concert Rounds (Three Blind Mice) - Hall & MCCreary Salli Terri - Frere JAcques - Lawson-Gould Whitcomb - Go Marry - Witmark Scarmolin - A Man of Words Not fo Deeds - Ricordi Peter Stone - Drunken Sailor - Pro Art Publ. Orff - #13 and 14 of Carmina - Tavern Scene (Wafna + In Taberna) - TBB, piano(s) and percussion - can also add women octave above and make it SSATBB - works!) Apologies for typos!!!! DJ AND for SSA: I asked for titles that have evoked laughter from your audiences. Along with some interesting comments, including a discussion of "what's funny. . .appropriate. . .in good taste. . . " I received the following. Thanks to many who responded! Duet for Two Cats. Rossini I Love Chocolate. Mozart ala Julie Pickard (not yet published) 12 Days After Christmas. Silver. (Belwin Mills, #DMC 137) Mary Had a Little Blues. -- or "Jazz" ? Charles Collins. (Boosey & Hawkes) Punching the Dough. Alice Parker. (Treble Cleff Music Press) Hello Girls. Lloyd Pfautsch. (Lawson/Gould) Consort of Choral Christmas Carols. PDQ Bach. (Presser) St. Bridget. Lloyd Pfautsch. (Lawson/Gould) Stuff & Nonsense. Norman Luboff. (Walton,Plymouth) Careless Love. Gwyneth Walker Detached Sayings. Allen Bonde. (Schaffner Publishing) Paul and His Chickens. Bradley Ross Ellingboe (Kjos) The Sow Took the Measles. Lollytoodum. arr. Bell (Boosey & Hawkes) The Alto's Lament. The Housekeeper's Lament. The following comment came from Robert Ross, Artistic Director, Voces Novae et Antiquae, Philadelphia: "Bear in mind. . .half the humor factor is being willing to take some risks in performance, including things like some stage movement, you doing unexpected things (from what conductors usually do), unexpected vocal colorings, etc. That's why many times performances of humorous music fall flat if you just do what's on the page!" I Bought Me a Cat adapted by Aaron Copland Boosey & Hawkes 1905 Ching-A-Ring Chaw " " " " " " OC4B5024 Stomp Your Foot " " " " " " 5019 The Terrible Tale of Tom Gilligan arr. Jonh Rutter Hinshaw HMC-811 Fiddler Man John Rutter Hinshaw HMC-815 O Whistle and I'll Come to Ye arr. Mack Wilberg Hinshaw HMC-649 And, if you want to consider something for women's voices: The Rattlin' Bog arr. Michael Braz SA Hinshaw HMC-1487 Old Horatius - Z Randal Stroope - a dorian setting of Old MacDonald had a farm Jaberwocky Banquet Fugue - Rutter Sing a Song of Sixpence - Rutter Feller from Fortune - Candian Folk song Froggie Went A Courtin - Kings Singers Collection My Bonnie Lass she Smelleth - PDQ Bach "The Good-Bye Jazz", SATB a cappella or with optional jazz-piano Theodore Presser 392-00797. -100071.2057(a)compuserve.com (Tom Cunningham) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Auction Cries--John Biggs Old Horatius Had a Farm--Z. Randall Stroope sorry, lost this contributors e `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Deck the Halls in 7/8 McKelvey, SATB, Mark Foster Waltz for two left feet Oh Susanna Stomp ddunsmor(a)morgan.ucs.mun.ca (Doug Dunsmore) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Alouette - Robert Sund Of Crows and Clusters - Dello Joio Farewell Overture - Jean Belmont some of the Doo-Wop madrigals by Gregg Smith Chant des Oyseaux- Janequin. lllane(a)ix.netcom.com (Laura Lane) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` "Love Lost" -Paul Sjolund "Oh See How Thick the Goldcup Flowers" -Mulholland trougg(a)hawkins.clark.edu (Gordon Trousdale) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` The Competition -unknown Oh Soldier, Soldier - old folk song Duet for Two Cats - Rossini - SA Songs Mein Grossmama Sang -L. Pfautsch Polly Wolly Doodle - arr. Kubik Stomp Your Foot - Copland Vanitas, Vanitatum(all is vanity) - arr. Rao LappersCL (Greg Lapp) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Housekeeper's Tragedy-Mary Lycan-SSA-Treble Clef Music Press The sow took the measles-Mary Lycan-SSA-Hinshaw MLycanclef(Mary Lycan) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Thy Body - K.L. Hicken- Thomas House Publications SVSTHP(Vern Sanders) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` "Social Commentary" Kathy Russavage. SATB, a cappella dkrudop(a)pen.k12.va.us (Donald W. Krudop) `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Neighbor's Chorus - Offenbach-Broude The Terrible Tale of Tom Gilligan -Rutter-Hinshaw Save the Bones for Henry Jones- K. Shaw-SAB-H. Leonard Yippi Ti Yi Yo-Lojeski-H. Leonard A Little Nonsense-R. Starer-MCA Music Haste Thee Nymph-Handel Banquet Fugue-Rutter-Hinshaw Scott Campbell Date: Sat, 23 Aug 97 20:59:14 -0700 From: Fabiana Katz-Eser To: Subject: SPOOFS compilation ----------------- CLASSICAL SPOOFS ------------------- Old Mother Hubbard by Victor Hely-Hutchinson "set in the manner of Handel" RIchard Genee: Italian Salad Diane Loomer: Bagatelle Scherzo Craig Courtney: "A Musicological Journey Through the 12 Days of Christmas." PDQ Bach: (What can I say!) "Blaues Gras" (BlueGrass Cantata), The Seasonings, madrigals, carols, etc. Seymour Barab: Parodies Warner Brothers (?): Rabbit of Seville, What's Opera Doc? Hely-Hutchinson: Handel-style version of Old Mother Hubbard. King's Singers collection: Can1t buy me love (Beatles) Beethoven: Choral Fantasia (yes, an odd suggestion, but nonetheless..) Geroge Botsford, arr: Rigoletto Quartette, based Verdi (Remick Music Corporation) arr.??: Schubert1s Trout Variations Kenneth Hicken: Three Spoofs in Classical Style - Thomas Music Publishers Mozart: Musical Joke King Singers: Masterpiece; A little Christmas music Carl Zytowski: *Ave Mater Anser* Hail Mother Goose ad modum Schubert, Handel, Orff. Stroope: *Old Hieronymous had a farm* Victor Herbert: Art is Calling for Me, from his operetta called The Enchantress Dohnanyi: "Variations on a Nursery Tune: (spoof elements) ??: Parody cantata on 3Jack and Jill2 William Billings: "Modern Music" and "Jargon" There's a very nice setting of the poem "When I'm an old woman I shall wear purple..." The setting is called "Fair Warning" and it's accompanied. I'm at home and don't have composer/publisher info... M Steighner What about "Caroline Million" (#2 from a set called "The Choral New Yorker") by Irving Fine? This is a fun, tough, rewarding piece for SSAA, solos & piano. The publisher is Carl Fischer #CM 7961. Happy hunting! Ann Foster "Four Russian Peasant Songs" by Stravinsky (two versions exist: a cappella, and another, later revision w. 4 horns obbligato). -- almost non-sensical folk texts, music has that Stravinskian "bite" of wit and humor. (A phonetic transcription is available from Musica Russica, although we do not have a published edition of these works.) e-mail us at: rusmuscat(a)musicarussica.com Vladimir Morosan Ask E. C. Schirmer for their catalogue of music by Gwyneth Walker. Much of it is humorous, and she is a very good composer as well. Contemporary but with tunes. dick drysdale When I directed Cantus here at Shenandoah, my ladies enjoyed Rutter's HEAVENLY AEROPLANE, but it uses piano and drums. I also used Jean Berger's Three Pieces for Women's Chorus (I believe is the name). Text for one of the selections deals with a kangaroo. I don't have a copy in front of me. Hope that will be enough to get your started. jhlaster I vote for "Single Girl" arr. by David Stocker (Thomas House Publications 1C0369316). Vern Sanders Check with Bill Ganz at UC Berkeley. The Women's chorale had a great arrangement of "Ma, he's makin' eyes at me". Of course, if they want to try arranging, I would point them towards the song "Men" by the Forrester Sisters. Very funny (My coed quintet is going to do it). And we have several funny songs in the CASA library, including Hey Daddy and It's Raining on Prom Night. Membership is only $15/yr for a person, and you can get 4 songs every 4 months. + newsletter, etc. Paul Sinasohn Have you tried the Lloyd Pfaustch "Laughing Song" for SSAA choirs. The accompaniment is for flute, and is really fun - very rhythmic. Another more serious but highly entertaining is a piece with piano accompaniment from Ron Nelsons "Three Songs of the Moon" (I think this is correct) I've only done the movement titled "Ask the Moon". Easy, but nice. Hope this has helped in a small way. Johnny Ray Jones, DMA Let The Church Roll On arr. Hariston Alto's Lament Bowlus R.D. Mathey Off the top of my head I thought of Randall thompson's "God's Bottles," on a text of the Women's CHristian temperance Union. And there are some madrigals that are kind of funny, like Este's (East's) "Your Shining Eyes" (Your shining eyes and golden hair, your lily-rosed lips most fair...men cannot choose but like them well. But when they say for them they'll die, Believe them not, they do but lie!) Not much help... David Griggs-Janower Check out Michelle Weir's arrangement of Rock a Bye Baby. Milton Olsson Hymn to the Him of True Love-Lloyd Pfautsch (Lawson Gould)--hope it's still in print Also by Pfautsch---Songs My Grossmamma Sang (or something like that)--at take off on Brahms Liebeslieder You might look to see if "Old Mother Hubbard" is in a treble arrangement (or that you could use the TTBB) Lynne Bradley My new publishing enterprise, Treble Clef Music Press, has several folk song settings that otheres have enjoyed and you may too: TC-109: "Housekeeper's Tragedy", North Carolina folk song arr. Hermene Eichhorn, a silly song about a grime-fighting housewife who finally "lay down and died and was buried in dirt". SSA, soprano and alto solo, piano. Audiences love it. TC-117: "Old Grandma", Candian folk song arr. Alice Parker, lists the pioneer woman's staggering list of chores, says, "It's no wonder Grandma's hair turned gray". SSAA, piano. TC-119: "Punching the dough", Canadian folksong arr. Alice Parker, on how it takes more gumption to shoot out biscuits than it does (for the guys) to shoot out windows and lights. SSAA, piano. Both Parker songs have wonderful rhythmic structures and very rewarding independent piano parts. (Incidentally, the middle piece in this set, "Away, far down the river," is the pioneer bride's farewell to everything she knows as she goes west, and is absolutely lovely and haunting.) While you may think I have cornered the market on grumpy housewife songs, of course there is Zae Munn's wonderful "The Stove", published by earthsongs in the set "The Muse, the Stove, and the Willow Plate." SSA a cappella, "One day my mother took up a sledgehammer, and pounded her kitchen stove into bits. She served cold cuts to my father for lunch." My chorus sang this and adored it. It's very skillfully written--with rests after all the best laugh lines. And do not forget "The sow took the measles" (SSA and piano), Hinshaw, with which the Seattle Girls' Choir brought down the house at the 1993 ACDA convention in San Antonio. Or Shirley MacRae's "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple" (SSA and piano), Plymouth Music, with which the Indianapolis Children's Chorus did ditto. There's also a Gwyneth Walker setting published by ECS of a folksong whose exact title I forget, but it's along the lines of "See what love has done," and is about unmarried pregnancy. I shall be coming out with a couple of silly songs next year, so stay tuned. If you would like a catalogue of my stuff (19 pieces, with little teeny first pages of almost everything and a half-price offer for reference copies), just drop me your snailmail address and I'll be glad to send it. Best wishes, Mary Lycan Editor and Proprietor Treble Clef Music Press 415 Wesley Drive Chapel Hill, NC 27516-1521 phone/FAX 919-932-5455 mlycanclef(a)aol.com 9:14 -0700 From: Fabiana Katz-Eser To: Subject: SPOOFS compilation ----------------- CLASSICAL SPOOFS ------------------- Old Mother Hubbard by Victor Hely-Hutchinson "set in the manner of Handel" RIchard Genee: Italian Salad Diane Loomer: Bagatelle Scherzo Craig Courtney: "A Musicological Journey Through the 12 Days of Christmas." PDQ Bach: (What can I say!) "Blaues Gras" (BlueGrass Cantata), The Seasonings, madrigals, carols, etc. Seymour Barab: Parodies Warner Brothers (?): Rabbit of Seville, What's Opera Doc? Hely-Hutchinson: Handel-style version of Old Mother Hubbard. King's Singers collection: Can1t buy me love (Beatles) Beethoven: Choral Fantasia (yes, an odd suggestion, but nonetheless..) Geroge Botsford, arr: Rigoletto Quartette, based Verdi (Remick Music Corporation) arr.??: Schubert1s Trout Variations Kenneth Hicken: Three Spoofs in Classical Style - Thomas Music Publishers Mozart: Musical Joke King Singers: Masterpiece; A little Christmas music Carl Zytowski: *Ave Mater Anser* Hail Mother Goose = ad modum Schubert, Handel, Orff. Stroope: *Old Hieronymous had a farm* Victor Herbert: Art is Calling for Me, from his operetta called The Enchantress Dohnanyi: "Variations on a Nursery Tune: (spoof elements) ??: Parody cantata on 3Jack and Jill2 William Billings: "Modern Music" and "Jargon" I have done a work called "hist whist" on a poem of e e cummings, music by r w jones. It is a speech piece. My choirs loved it. Of all the PDQ Bach works, my favorite is a movement from "Knock, Knock" entitled "What is the Question." This is an audience favorite. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...." My choir's favorite is "We Are The Chorus" by Ralph Wilkinson. The first lines are .... "We are the chorus. xxxxxx (insert your own choir's name here) chorus. We sing what is put before us, yes we do. We are the choir. xxxxxx choir. We sing with a lot of fire deed we do. But we have a gripe. A great big gripe. And we would like to tell all about it."..... from there on it pokes fun at musical warm ups, at one point the women imitate oboes while holding their noses and much more. At another point a choir member hollars STOP! when the warm-up segment just gets a bit too tedious. And there is also a spot for a blood curlding scream. (I once used a member of the audience to hollar STOP and it almost brough the house down.) The other favorite of my choir is the Diack settings of the nursery rhymes. "Old Mother Hubbard" is a good one - very Handelian. An easier one is "Sing a Song of Six Pence". "Jack and Jill" is my favorite. Always a joy to sing but they do take some work. Fellow Listers: Here is a condensed version of the list of Humorous songs I received. Thanks for your overwhelming response. I am listing almost140 titles for you. They are all SATB unless otherwise noted. I have condensed other information as well such as composer, arranger, and publisher. I have numbered them so you can keep things straight as I know all formats received are different. My apologies if I have left anyone's off. Happy Hunting! 1) "Mail Order Madrigals" by William Schumann 2) "No One's Perfect" Arr. Walter Rodby - Somerset #WR1012 3) "High Above Cayuga's Waters" 4) Nursery Rhymes by Carl Zytowski A) Parvla Bo Peep B) Parvus Jacobus Horner C) Jackcum Amico Jill published by Hinshaw 5) "Jakkobins isot poiat" by Pekka Kostianinen 6) "The North Wind" by Arne Mellnas 7) "Bosa Buffa" by Arne Mellnas 8) "Chorister's Covert Concert" by George Mabry - pub. Roger Dean of Lorenz 9) "Gaelic Blessing" by Gawthrope 10) "Love Lost" by Paul Sjolund 11) "Tragedy of Macbeth" by Ron Drotos 12) "Four Lewis Carroll Texts" pub by Shawnee Press 13) "Father William" by Irving Fine 14) "Insalata Italiano" by Richard Genee 15) "Gigglefest - songs of whimsey 16) "Kpanlango" pub sy Santa Barbara 17) "Due North" Stephen Chatman - published by Jaymar 18) "Old Dan Tucker" arr. Luboff 19) "Jabberwockey" by Sam Pottle - uses toy perc. inst. 20) "Burst of Appaluse" by Vito Mason - Presser B-201 21) "The Young Lutheran's guide to Orchestra" Garrison Keilor 22) "Geographical Fugue" Toch - spoken 23) "Valse" by Toch - spoken 24) "Mad Madrigal" - Percy Wicker MacDonald (Pop - Lorenz 2144) 25) "Auction Cries" by John Briggs 26) "Phonophobia" by Alice Parker - Hinshaw 27) "Masterpiece" (7 songs in styles of major composers) Hinshaw HMB 165 28) "Banquet Fugue" John Rutter 29) "Concerto for Singing Chickens" 30) "Concertschtick" 31) "Farewell Overture" by Jean Belmont 32) "The Laughing Song" by Valerie Shields (SA) B&H 33) "Encores for Choirs" - collection of 8 published by Oxford. 34) "Ding Dong Merrily on High: Deathknell for a popular carol for belles, bell boys, and campanologists by David Blackburn 35) "Fred" by Andrew Carter - Treble Voices 36) "The Juggler" and "Looking for a Rhyme" by James Benninghof 37) "Two Tongue Twisters" by Noel Goemanne TTBB 38) "Ill Wind" Michael Flanders and Donald Swann 39) "Weather Forecast" and "The Highway Code" - Mastersingers 40) "Beautiful Soup" "Lobster Quadrille" and "White Kngiht" by Irving Fine 41) "Ching a Ring Chaw" and "I Bought Me a Cat" by Aaron Copland 42) "Jabberwocky" Sam Pottle - Trigon Music 43) "Love and Pizen" from Choral Variations on American Folk Songs - G. Schirmer 44) "Feller From Fortune" Somers 45) "Banks of the Ohio" Gwyneth Walker ESC 46) "Football" by Dobbins 47) "Beautiful, Yet Truthful" by Lloyd Pfautsch 48) "The Argument" by Nesta 49) "Our Conductor" and "The Birds" by Ken Langer (LangerK(a)mail.lsc.vsc.edu) 50) "Lewis Carol Sampler" Robert Jordahl - Mark Foster 51) "Modern Music" William Billings 52) "Choral New Yorker" Irving Fine 53) "Circus Band" Charles Ives 54) "Little White Hen" Scandello 55) "Neighbor's Chorus" Offenbach 56) "O No John" Arr. Miller 57) "Breathing with Beethoven" by Wolfe - Lorenz Pub. 58) "Fruitcake" by Hagemann SB 59) "Presidential Suite" by Jack Gottlieb (7 pieces for SATB based on words of famous presidents - BH ) 60) "My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth" PDQ Bach 61) "Liebesliede Polkas" PDQ Bach 62) "The Heart of Fugue" by Robert Leaf Somerset SP820 63) "And Sparrows Everywhere" Libby Larson EC Schirmer 64) "The Grasshopper" Joseph Clokey - Hinshaw 65) "Mosquitoes" Stephen Chatman 66) "Lambscapes" 4 stylistic variations of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" pub Turtle Creek 67) "Jack and Jill" by Theron Kirk 68) "The Seasonings" by PDQ Bach 69) "#2 of "Three Songs from Hebrew Poety" by Steve Barnett 70) "Tragedy of Macbeth" by Ron Drotos 71) "Choral Menagerie" Ivan Mauer (htpp://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/showscore.pl?scoreid92 72) "The Argument" by Nesta 73) "The Farmer's Wife" Mozart 74) "Green Eggs and Ham" Mozart 75) "The Oubit" and "Pentamic Imbeter" William Cooper 76) "The Love of a Soldier and a Marble Heart" William Cooper 77) "The Grey Swuirrel" William Cooper TTBB 78) "Lovelife Dances" and "New Lovelife Dances" by William Cooper 79) "Singing in the Choir" Donna Rhodenizer 80) "Old Horatius Had a Farm" Z. Randall Stroppe 81) "Big Fat Goose" Orlando de Lasso 82) "Manly Men" Kurt Knecht 83) "New York Girls" Kirke Mechem 84) "Terrible Tale of Tom Gilligan" John Rutter 85) "The Fiddler" by John Rutter 86) "Harmony in Marriage" FJ Haydn 87) "Good Bye Jazz" Tom Cunningham 88) "Quangle Wangle Quee" Tim Knight www.tim-knight.20m.com 89) "Give Me a Good Digestion, Lord" Edwin Earle Ferguson - Walton WW1027 90) "Oysters and Clams" by David Dusing - Presser 392-02514 91) "Bagels and Biscuits" Santa Barbara Music Publishers 92) "Good, Betyter, Best" and "Bits of Wisdom" Jean Berger 93) "Bugs" Daniel Pinkham 94) "We're the Choir" Kjell Linna - Walton 95) "Drunken Sailor" Robert Sund 96) "An Old Man He Courted Me" and "Lukey's Boat" by Stephen Chatman 97) "#2 of Two Scandanavian Folksongs" by Lars Edlund 98) "Maiden is in a Ring Now" published by Walton 99) "Antidisestablishmentarianism" by Sol Berkowitz - Elkan Vogel 100) "Laughing Song" by Earl George - Summy Birchard 101) "Owl and the Pussycat" Frank Marcel G. Schirmer 102) "Singaling (Spirituals Blues)" from "Esses" by William Schuman - Presser 103) "Friday Mornings" by Seufert - Jenson Pub. 104) "Lullabies and Nightsongs" Alec Wilder, arr. Don Lang B&H 105) "Oliver Cromwell" Ar. William Lock - Woodland/Anatra 106) "Riddle Me This" Bergsma ESC 107) "Love Me or Leave Me" by Kahn 108) "Crawdad Song" by Lewis 2pt 109) "Cries of London" Gibbons/Stevens 110) "Philological: "Lament for Cocoa; Arnatt, Ronald 111) "Philological: "Shipbored" Arnatt, Ronald 112) "Philological: Pooem" Arnatt, Ronald 113) "Heart of the Fugue" Robert Leaf 114) "Streets of Laredo" Lloyd Pfautsch TTBB 115) "Mouse Madrigal" Steven Porter SSA 116) "Alouette" Robert Sund 117) "Down Steers and Bass" William Billings 118) "Smieklis Man" by Aldonis Kalnins SSAA (Latvian) 119) "Madrigal for Brother John" Steven Porter SA 120) "The Feast" (set of 3) Robert Petker A) Honeycomb B) On Tomato Ketchup C) Eating Songs 121) "Long John Done Gone" Harnston 122) "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" by Zimmerman 123) "Prepositions" Joan Varner SA 124) "Whiffenpoof Song" Minningerode/Valley TTBB 125) "Donkey Serenade" Stothart/Marlow TTBB 126) "The Noisy Three" Willis/Luten TTBB 127) "Old Mother Hubbard" - Arr. Diack TTBB 128) "Waltzing Matilda" Wood TTBB 129) "Swinging on a Star" Henseon/Burke 130) "A Policeman's Lot" Gilbert and Sullivan Gray Pub TTBB 131) "St. Bridget" Lloyd Pfautsch LG SSAA 132) "Merry Christmas Jazz" Tom Cunningham 133) "Harmony in Marriage" Haydn 134) "The Choirmaster at the Pearly Gates" Richard Proulx (Sacred Music Press) 135) "The Island Queen" Robert DeCormier 136) "Haste Thee, Nymph" Handel "From L'Allegro 137) "Shivering Chorus" Purcell 138) "Crows and Clusters" Dello Joio 139) "Getting Married" from Sondheim's "Company Bruce Phelps --------------------------------------------- Bruce Phelps Coon Rapids, MN email: phelps(a)visi.com Telephone 763-427-5291 ---------------------------------------------
on August 13, 2006 10:00pm
"How to be Happy" has been set for SATB chorus with piano accompaniment plus an added tambourine part by C. Jason Bechtold. Key of Bb/C major with a quick, happy tempo in 4/4 meter. Sopranos have a few G's and one A...rest of the ranges are moderate. Clever text. $1.60 per octavo. Please order through www.reallygoodmusic.com For more information on the composer check out www.cjbechtold.com
on October 1, 2006 10:00pm
CAT THAT BOOGIED, THE (SSA-piano) is an old American folk song whose character is changed by this setting. The boogie-woogie piano part is arranged so that it may be played as an independent solo. The voices may perform a cappella, as a separate choral piece in canon. If a good pianist is invited to play this work as a solo for a choral program, and then the choir sings the piece a cappella, the effect will add both contrast and color to the concert. If, after the choir has sung the piece, the pianist returns to play his/her solo again, but is unexpectedly joined by the voices, the audience will be amazed that the two
on September 17, 2007 10:00pm
A video of my humorous piece "A Choral Menagerie" listed at #71 has now been uploaded to YouTube if anyone would like to take a look (and listen). The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ_HHEtNK90 or you can go to YouTube and search for "Choral Menagerie". I'd be grateful for any comments and ratings which you might like to provide on that site. You can also find it, together with details of how to get printed music for the piece, by going to my website www.ianmaurer.net
on December 3, 2007 10:00pm
Here is my contribution to the (hopefully) humorous song list. THE FINAL DAY OF SCHOOL for SATB and Piano. The Final Day of School It was the final day of school and, as might be expected, The academic subjects all were purposely neglected. The academic subjects all were purposely neglected. The Colonists and Romans too, from His'try had depart-ed. The voy'ges of Columbus were no longer being charted! The voy'ges of Columbus were no longer being charted! The theorems of Pythagoras, his bright hypotenusing, Were lying in the corner for some major year-end snoozing, Were lying in the corner for some major year-end snoozing. No verbs were parsed, no objects sought, no sentences decoded, While Twain and Poe and Faulkner were, to afterthoughts, demoted. While Twain and Poe and Faulkner were, to afterthoughts, demoted. Instead, in every classroom you could hear a boist'rous song While from the cafeteria came laughter loud and long. Out in the hallway there were some who danced the whole day through, And as for all the students, they were very happy too! ( |
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Alkan "Marche funebre sulla morte d'un pappagallo" (Funeral march on the death of a parrot)- SATB with 4 wind instruments.
JS Bach "Coffee Cantata".
Haydn "Die Beredsamkeit" (Eloquence)- SATB a capella, in praise of drinking wine.
Daniel E. Gawthrup "A Gaelic blessing" - SATB, very short, a parody of all the Gaelic & Irish blessing songs - a little reminiscent of Rutter.
There is just so much humorous music out there - enough for a life time or two of concerts!