This Month's Featured Posts

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

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

I Surrender All

with piano | 4 min | Listen

When references to the lyrics of this song became a recurrent theme in Dr. Scott Dudley’s sermon series at Bellevue Presbyterian, I composed this fervent gospel version for the congregation to sing with the choir. At times drums, trombones, and brass band have joined the piano accompaniment, as it has been rendered by the choir, ensembles, and soloists in many different contexts.

The inspiration for Judson Van DeVenter’s text was quite personal:
“For some time, I had struggled between developing my talents in the field of art and going into full-time evangelistic work. At last the pivotal hour of my life came, and I surrendered all. A new day was ushered into my life. I became an evangelist and discovered down deep in my soul a talent hitherto unknown to me. God had hidden a song in my heart, and touching a tender chord, he caused me to sing.” His colleague in ministry, Winfield S. Weeden, set his powerful poem to music, and it became the most enduringly popular of all the hymns they composed during their fruitful ministry together.

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live.

Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at his feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to thee,
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessing fall on me!

Choral

Faith, Hope, and Love

Unison with cello and piano | 2.5 min | Listen

These very significant words which conclude the famous “Love Chapter” (I Corinthians 13:13) are not easily conveyed. I wrote Faith, Hope, and Love to provide a simple understanding that,

Faith is believing with God all is possible.
Hope is just trusting His promises are true.
And love is the greatest, Love is the greatest!
God’s love lasts forever; He loves me and you.

A simple melodic line contrasts with the rich, soul-stirring cello’s arching melody, supported by the piano’s strong arpeggiation. The warmth of cellist Ji Youn’s playing was simply perfect!

Months after singing this in worship, one child from the choir told me a story. He and his mother had been visiting a friend who was having a hard time. While riding in the car with her, they spontaneously began to sing these words in an effort to bring her comfort. What a gift of faith, hope, and love.

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.