Choral Psalm 42 Unison w/Congregation with piano; SATB with piano; SSA with piano and Flute (C Instrument) | 3 minutes | Listen The opening phrase of Psalm 42, “Just as the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for You, my God!” has inspired countless musical settings over the centuries. This vivid imagery invites flowing melodies, expressing the anonymous Psalmist’s longing, sorrow, joy, and peace. Because of its watery association, I’ve paired the anonymous American folk tune Shenandoah with my poetic adaptation of the Psalm, carefully painting each strophe. The Unison setting works very well with Congregational singers, as the piano accompaniment strongly supports the melody line in a comfortable range. The piano provides a steady, flowing accompaniment in both the SSA and SATB settings. In the SSA version, I’ve also used the traditional English folk tuneWaly,Waly, and interwoven a Flute [C instrument] part throughout, echoing both theWaly,Waly and Shenandoah melodies. Just as the deer longs for the water, So my soul, it yearns for Thee! I thirst for You, my living water, to satisfy my deepest need, fill my very being. My tears have washed my soul in sorrow, Still I hope in God my Savior! In darkest night His song is with me, A quiet peace flows in my soul, carries all my troubles. I’ll sing God’s praise among His people, With glad shouts sing sweet hosannas! Rememb’ring all His help and comfort, His love so sure and strong, fills my ev’ry longing. [SSA withWaly,Waly tune] Just as the deer for water longs, So yearns my soul to drink of Thee! I thirst for You, O come and fill and satisfy my deepest need.
Choral A Small Suite with piano | 6 min | Listen Little Talk Spiders Snail’s Pace Butterfly Wings Since my first introduction to the prize-winning poetry of Aileen Fisher as a young mother, I have been a very vocal fan of her whimsical word crafting for children. While searching for fresh material to provide winsome lyrics for the younger kids of Seattle Children’s Chorus, I stumbled upon these four poems in “Always Wondering,” a collection of “Some Favorite Poems.” I quickly and joyfully got to work creating A Small Suite. Kris Mason, Artistic Director, conducted the premiere, and soon after, Alliance Music Publications, Inc. became its publisher, bringing the music and the poetry that I loved into many lives. Each piece stands alone, but they are designed as an integral seamless whole, musically and thematically. “Little Talk” Don’t you think it’s probable that beetles, bugs, and bees talk about a lot of things– you know, such [things] as these: The kind of weather where they live in jungles tall with grass, and earthquakes in their villages whenever people pass. Of course, we’ll never know if bugs talk very much at all– because our ears are far too big for talk that is so small. ———- “Spiders” Spiders are so sort-of-thin, whatever do they keep it in– the yards of thread they need to spin? ———- “Snail’s Pace” Maybe it’s so that snails are slow: they trudge along and tarry. But isn’t it true you’d slow up, too, if you had a house to carry? ———- “Butterfly Wings” How would it be on a day in June to open your eyes in a dark cocoon, And soften one end and crawl outside, and find you had wings to open wide, And find you could fly to a bush or tree or float on the air like a boat at sea… How would it BE? by Aileen Fisher
Choral Be Thou My Vision SSA(B) with piano | 4 min | Listen Originally I arranged this stirring Celtic hymn for two flutes (Along with My Love I’ll Go), and interwove the original hymn tune with a novel counter theme. The SSA version echoes that original arrangement with the addition of a flute. When writing the version for Bel Canto, the SSA youth choir of Bellevue Presbyterian, I was asked to create an optional Baritone part for the young male voices. Also, I’ve added an extended piano introduction, and have written words for the counter theme that precedes the traditional hymn: I do not know the way to go, the steps that I should take to walk in paths of righteousness for Thy name’s sake. ————————————————— And the prayer, poetically expressed by a long-forgotten Celt, provides powerful inspiration for all followers of Jesus Christ across time and space: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word; I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, thy child I will be, Thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee. Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise; Thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and thou only first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure thou art. High King of heaven, when vict’ry is won, May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Choral Celtic Winds SSA with flute and piano | 3.7 min | Listen Commissioned by Seattle Children’s Chorus for their 20th Anniversary Concert in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, this dramatic arrangement of The Skye Boat Song and The Wind that Shakes the Barley expresses a fervent Celtic longing for freedom, depicting great courage in the face of oppression. Loud the winds howl! Loud the waves roar! Thunderclouds rend the air! Baffled our foes, stand on the shore, Follow, they will not dare! Speed, bonny boat, like a bird on the wing, “On-ward” the sailors cry! Carry the lad that’s born to be king Over the sea to Skye. Though the waves leap, Soft shall ye sleep, Ocean’s a royal bed. Rocked in the deep, we shall all keep watch by your weary head. The beloved Skye Boat Song tells of the romantic figure Bonnie Prince Charlie, disguised as a serving maid, escaping in a small boat to the Isle of Skye after the defeat of his Jacobite (Scottish and Irish) uprising in 1745. The Wind that Shakes the Barley, an old Irish rebel song from the 1798 rebellion, tells a more tragic tale. A young man meets with his true love amid the barley, and while agonizing over leaving her for love of his country, a foe’s bullet ends her life, thus deciding his fate– he must fight. The integrating musical motif which unites the songs is the sweeping motion of the wind in the barley, and the wind on the sea, depicted in the sound of the voices and in the flute, played by Maya Lewis. This setting is derived from the original arrangement for two flutes, recorded on the CD, Along with My Love I’ll Go.
Choral Counting Song SA/SSA with flute and piano | 3 min | Listen As an inveterate counter of stairs, hours, and virtually any sort of object, I’m transported by the idea of the impossibility of quantifying the seemingly infinite elements of God’s creation. No matter how advanced a young person’s conceptions of arithmetic or mathematics, the ultimate largeness of the Creator calls us all to wonder! How many leaves cling to the trees? How many trees stand on the hill? How many hills roll on and on? Counting them all, I’m counting still… How many raindrops fall from the clouds? How many clouds fill up the sky, where How many stars shine on and on? Counting them all, I’d count so high… Chorus (repeats) But our God is bigger than the highest number, He has counted ev’ry cloud and tree; He knows ev’rything, for He has made it. He cares for ev’rything, including me… How many feathers cover the wings of How many birds that fly and bring How many songs to our Heavenly King? Maker of all, His praise we sing! Inspired by my association with Seattle Children’s Chorus, this SA arrangement was first performed during a Thanksgiving Day Service at Bellevue Presbyterian by their youth choir, Bel Canto, with a flute part beautifully interpreted by Maya Lewis.