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Theme of light/day and darkness/nightDate: April 5, 2013 by Jessica Moore  Views: 1353
I am trying to program a concert themed on light and daytime and darkness and nighttime for High School.
I have to program for an all womens chorus, a selected 20 member SATB ensemble and a 70 person mixed ensemble.
So far I have selected Eric Whitacre's Lux Aurumque, Keith Hampton's True Light, Morten Lauridsen's Sure on this Shining Night, and David Child's The Moon is Distant from the Sea
Any additional suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you,
Jessica Moore
Vlad Morosan on April 6, 2013 10:30pm
Hi, Jessica,
There are a number of pieces that would fit your criteria in the Musica Russica catalog.
Go to http://www.musicarussica.com/sheet_music_pieces and you will see Quick Search by Theme. There you can look at "Evening" and "Light" e.g.
http://www.musicarussica.com/search/results?classes=SheetMusicPiece&theme=evening
Several of the selections are with English text. But for every piece we publish, a custom audio diction coaching guide is available.
Good luck with your program.
Vlad Morosan
www.musicarussica.com
Applauded by an audience of 1
on April 7, 2013 2:35am
Jessica. From Darkness to Light by Philip Stopford, SATB and organ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiZiingLRCY Based on a CS Lewis text. Published by ecclesium.co.uk
on April 7, 2013 5:11am
Blackbird, Paul McCartney, arr. Audrey Snyder
Choose Something like a Star, Randall Thompson SSA: This Little Light of Mine, Robert A. Harris Eternal Light, Shine in Our Hearts, Robert A. Harris Keep Your Lamps!, Spiritual, arr. André Thomas, a cappella with conga drums You Are the New Day, John David, arr. Peter Knight Freedom Trilogy, Paul Halley, with piano and percussion (Contains "We Are Marching in the Light of God")
on April 7, 2013 5:42am
In the Night, We Shall Go In - Imant Raminsh (Alliance music)
Night of the Full Moon - Libby Larsen (ECS)
Ecco mormorar l'onde - Claudio Monteverdi - good for morning
There are a number of fine settings of "Hark, hark, the lark", the poem by Shakespeare - also a good morning text
Gyorgy Ligeti's "Night and Morning" is challenging but a very good work for a concert with this theme. I especially enjoy the rooster crows "kikiriki" (Hungarian for cocka-dooddle-doo, I suppose)!
Aftonen - Hugo Alfven
Larry Smith
Missouri Baptist University
St. Louis
Applauded by an audience of 1
on April 7, 2013 12:34pm
Please consider two piece I have written.
Let Evening Come is my setting of Jane Kenyon's poem.
You may read the poem here.
It has been published by William Thorpe; you may visit here to
look at the score and listen to a bit of a recording. There are also
youtube performances of the piece by the Choral Project and
(in the treble version) by the Peninsula Women's Chorus. My
preference is for the version for women's chorus.
Another piece, unpublished, is The Music of the Spheres. The text,
by Shakespeare, is from The Merchant of Venice. An excerpt:
Soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
There are two versions: for mixed chorus, horn, and piano; and
for treble chorus, horn, and piano.
I can send a score and recording on request.
Cheers,
Brian Holmes
Winner, 2012 American Prize in Choral Composition
on April 7, 2013 6:17pm
Hello Jessica:
You may be interested in two works by Canadian writers: Eleanor Daley's excellent setting of THE STARS ARE WITH THE VOYAGER (text by Thomas Hood) deals extensively with the stars in the night sky guiding the travelling lover home (SATB, SSAA, and TTBB with piano, each available separately). The other is an elegant a cappella SATB arrangement of Nova Scotian writers Susan Crowe and Stephen Smith entitled IN THE EVENING (SATB only). Excerpts from both follow here: The stars are with the voyager wherever he may sail; The moon is constant to her time; the sun will never fail, But follow round the world, the green earth, and the sea.......
In the evening, through the evening, as I wait to spy your star, ev'ry breath regrets my leaving as I wonder where you are......
Please contact me directly at info(a)rhythmictrident.com if you're interested in seeing these works.
WIth best wishes, Willi Zwozdesky
on April 8, 2013 3:25am
Jessica,
On theme theme of day and night, I would recommend the following:
Best,
Michael
on April 8, 2013 6:31am
Hi Jessica,
I have written a recent piece you might be interested in called "Fiat Lux," (SATB, a cappella) that might be suitable for your 20 voice group. It uses the Latin text from Genesis about the creation of light which is later juxtaposed with English and a little Arabic about the Arab Spring Democracy movement. It premiered in London in December and was workshopped in January in Minnesonta by the "First Readings Project." It is actually fairly easy and might be inspirational for a high school group.
If you're interested, I would be happy to send a score and recording.
All the best,
John Beeman
Half Moon Bay, Ca
Applauded by an audience of 1
on April 8, 2013 8:12am
If you haven't done so already, you might want to take a look as Jackson Berkey's "Arma Lucis" (Armor of Light)!
...wishing the best to you and your students, Jessica.
Jan Kohler
Hudson Valley
NEW YORK
on April 8, 2013 10:51am
Hi Jessica:
I have a few pieces that might be of interest:
If your women's chorus is not terribly advanced, an arrangement of Sunny Side of the Street (SA and piano with some divisi in both parts, but never more than 3 parts), runs about 3 minutes. Fairly easy. (Written for neighborhood Chicago Children's Choir ensembles.)
If your women's chorus is advanced, The Heart of Night (text by Bliss Carmen) for SSAA and oboe. Runs almost 5 minutes.
For your 20 voice ensemble, The Star (the iconic poem by Ann and Jane Taylor), SATB, a cappella, with some divisi, runs just under 3 minutes.
For your mixed ensemble, the same as above, but with piano, runs about 3:15.
I'd be happy to send you pdf's for perusal, and mp3's of the Finale play-outs.
Bob Applebaum
on April 8, 2013 11:07am
Hi, again, Jessica:
Forgot about another possibilty: a 6 part a cappella cannon (SSAATB) called As the World Turns (no reference to the soap opera). Not particularly difficult, and could work for your small or large mixed group. Runs just over 5 minutes.
The original text in part: As the world turns and the sun sets, light is fading and the moon ascends.
Emerging in the dark, tiny points of light paint the sky as night descends.
As the cannon develops, small variations on this text are used.
I will be happy to send you pdf and mp3 if you wish to peruse the work.
Bob Applebaum
on April 8, 2013 6:45pm
Jessica,
I would like to offer my own "Clearing at Dawn." The text is by Chinese poet, Li Po. It has recently been premiered and well received by the professional chamber choir The Texas Voices. It is calm and meditative and ends with the choir providing wind as the morning clouds scatter away. I can send you a partial recording and the sheet music as a PDF if you're interested.
Sincerely,
Alvin Trotman
on April 9, 2013 6:33am
Jessica,
Sounds like a neat program! I would like to recommend two of my works (click on the work's title to hear a recording and view a perusal score):
Lux Aeterna (SSAA, unaccompanied) Nancy Menk and the St. Mary's College Women's Choir recently took this piece on tour.
Sleep, Little Baby, Sleep (SATB, unaccompanied) A beautiful night-time lullaby, this work was commissioned by Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire.
Both of these works are accessible to intermediate level groups and express sounds of light and night, respectively.
Best,
Jake Runestad
composer & conductor
on April 9, 2013 1:57pm
Hi Jessica,
I rrecommend considering another set of pieces by Canadian composer Imant Raminsh: Songs of the Lights. This is a set of four short pieces for chorus and piano in two versions: women's chorus (SA, SSA, & SSAA) and mixed chorus (mostly SAB with some SSAB & SATB sections). The pieces employ Native American texts (Algonquin & Navajo) in English translations. They work well either as a set or as stand-alone pieces. Each piece is published separately by Boosey & Hawkes.
The titles of the individual songs are:
1. Song of the Stars
2. The Sower
3. The Sun is a Luminous Shield
4. Daybreak
Another suggestion is the Moses Hogan arrangement of Let the Heaven Light Shine on Me , published by Hal Leonard (08744320).
Richard Householder
University of Windsor
on April 9, 2013 3:19pm
Jessica:
While you are specifically speaking of day/night light/dark - would you consider an additional perspective? I have scored many choral works to the texts of Dr. Robert J. Smithdas (deaf/blind from the age of 5). He is retired from the Helen Keller National Center in NY. The scores are accessible and for HS level and above.
Enigma: SSAA and piano or SATB and piano (a finalist in the Ithaca College School of music choral composition competition) Youtube performance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSl95Yjw7Fs
Nightfall In a Summer Garden: SSATB, piano and oboe. Youtube performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMzclzdFeqg&list=UUG5O6-C2SQu8YBAQ8i8pdWg&index=9
both are publised by Lighthouse Music Publications and can be obtained through JWPepper, Sheet Music Plus, etc.
Nocturne: SSA and piano. Youtube performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW2RQ1tFYO4 (contact me directly for this score).
Good luck.
Rick
crickb88(a)cox.net
on June 5, 2013 5:26pm
Julian Wachner's At the Lighting of the Lamps, for SATB, flute and organ. I commissioned it in 2001; it is published by ECS. I've conducted it several times and both audiences and singers love it. Short octatonic fugue, great training for high school singers!
Jennifer Lester
on June 6, 2013 8:11am
You might be interested in my Earthly Light. SATB with a little divisi with a flexible instrumental ensemble of winds/strings or winds/organ. Premiered by the Bagaduce Chorale in 2009. It has 3 movements: Nuclear Sun, Light Spectrum, and Photosynthesis. http://choralnet.org/306016#earthlylight has a perusal score and recording of excerpts. Please contact me if you'd like more info.
Anna Dembska
on June 6, 2013 8:50am
We do my three-part arrangement of the shape note tune "Traveler's Prayer" which is a beautiful invocation to the moon to bless travelers on their way and all in need. You can hear a sample at http://www.kaiasing.com/kaiastore.html (Get Down, Rise Up track #7). Let me know if you're interested and I can get you the charts.
Sing on,
Cairril
on June 6, 2013 10:18am
While this might not make it into Jessica's program (given that she posted her request two months ago), for posterity I'll offer up a wonderful new "dark/light" pair from composer Ola Gjeilo:
Dark Night of the Soul (info on composer's website: http://olagjeilo.com/sheet-music/choral-satb-piano/dark-night-of-the-soul-satb-piano-string-quartet/)
Luminous Night of the Soul (info on composer's website: http://olagjeilo.com/sheet-music/choral-satb-piano/luminous-night-of-the-soul/)
Both are for SATB, piano, and string quartet, with texts by St. John of the Cross and Charles Anthony Silvestri. Their approximate durations are 14' and 9' respectively. They feature the piano prominently, rather than simply as background accompaniment, and are both published by Walton Music. "Dark Night of the Soul" was first recorded on "Northern Lights" by Charles Bruffy and the Phoenix Chorale (I sing in the ensemble) and both pieces have just recently been recorded by Kevin Riehle and CANTARE Houston and released as an EP.
on June 7, 2013 3:40am
Jessica
LIGHTS UPON OUT SOULS SATB a capppella by Nick Page Boosey & Hawkes
(In Shapenote style - also known as Sacred Harp style)
The light of sun and moon and stars
Lights upon our souls and gives us life. Compassion is the key to life, To give as has been given to you. Renew your soul and go within to find your light. The sun gives light to feed the Earth. The soul gives love to feed the light.
on June 7, 2013 11:35am
Worth considering are a few works of Brahms: O Schone Nacht
and Abendlied, both of which, if my memory serves me correctly,
come from a set of four quartets, the opus number for which escapes
me. There is also Nachtens, a fun piece from a set of six quartets,
I believe. You mentioned the Lauridsen already, so the Barber "Sure
on this Shining Night" may not interest you. His "Twelfth Night" is
a spectacular piece as well, though it's quite challenging. One
more: the Hogan arrangement of "This Little Light of Mine" will
always have a special place in my heart. A fun arrangement for
mixed chorus and soloists. Good luck!
on June 8, 2013 6:47am
Hi Jessica,
My summer chamber choir and I are in the middle of preparing a concert with a similar theme, and are actually performing several things you too have selected. Give a listen to Craig Hella Johnson's arrangement of Dolly Parton's "Light of a Clear, Blue Morning." It is so lovely and full of life, and can be put together with little difficulty. We are also performing the entirity of Morten Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna." I know that that the middle movement, "O Nata Lux," is sold as an individual octavo. Certainly worth a look! :)
~Brady
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