I Wonder As I Wander (full Score): Concert Band: Score

SKU: CF.CM9581

ISBN 9781491154038. UPC: 680160912537. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. Key: G minor. English. Traditional Appalachian Carol.

This arrangement of the beautiful Appalachian carol is very expressive and meant to be performed with much freedom and thoughtful attention to the words, dynamic contrasts, and tempo alterations. Once you have learned this piece and are familiar with these changes to volume and tempo indications, watch your director very carefully for cues for these subtleties. It is very important that you stay together and make these changes as a unified group. The effect will be amazing! Even though this song begins very gently, be certain to pronounce your words carefully and with good diction. There are many words that sound similar: wonder / wander / under, for example. The beauty of the poetry and alliteration will be lost on your listener if your lyrics cannot be understood. Also, the story is in the words, carried to the listener on the wings of the melody and arrangement. Always, no matter what your volume level and even at the very softest levels, pronounce, pronounce, pronounce! Enjoy the ethereal beauty and reflective musings of this meditative piece! ~ Ruth Elaine Schram.
This arrangement of the beautiful Appalachian carol is very expressive and meant to be performed with much freedom and thoughtful attention to the words, dynamic contrasts, and tempo alterations. Once you have learned this piece and are familiar with these changes to volume and tempo indications, watch your director very carefully for cues for these subtleties. It is very important that you stay together and make these changes as a unified group. The effect will be amazing!Even though this song begins very gently, be certain to pronounce your words carefully and with good diction. There are many words that sound similar: wonder / wander / under, for example. The beauty of the poetry and alliteration will be lost on your listener if your lyrics cannot be understood. Also, the story is in the words, carried to the listener on the wings of the melody and arrangement. Always, no matter what your volume level and even at the very softest levels, pronounce, pronounce, pronounce!Enjoy the ethereal beauty and reflective musings of this meditative piece!~ Ruth Elaine Schram.

SKU: CF.SPS33F

ISBN 9780825867903. UPC: 798408067908. 9 X 12 inches. Key: G minor - c minor.

This setting of the hauntingly beautiful Appalachian folk song/carol was originally written for choir by Ruth Elaine Schram and published by Carl Fischer in 2007 (CM9001). It has now been scored for concert band and can be perfomed by band alone or with the Schram choral setting, giving you some great performance options. I Wonder As I Wander is a musically satisfying representation of this lovely Christmas carol.

SKU: GI.G-9450INST

UPC: 785147945093.

The keyboard accompaniment is printed in the full score.

SKU: PE.EP72822

ISBN 9790577011769. 232 x 303mm inches. English.

I have only visited Damascus once, twenty years ago, on the way to Palmyra.  I had a purpose (I was writing music for a play about Palmyra’s Queen Zenobia) but essentially I was a tourist.  Like any visitor, I was thrilled to step out of the noisy modern city into the magical ancient world of the walled Old City, its vibrant souk leading to the magnificent mosque, and a labyrinth of winding, narrow streets filled with the smell of unleavened bread.

In Palmyra, I was met with extraordinary kindness everywhere.  On one occasion, a little Bedouin boy noticed that I was risking sunstroke wandering bare-headed among the spectacular ruins: he showed me how to tie a turban, then took me to have tea with his family in their tent.

Since then, I have watched helplessly as these places of wonder have been devastated and their inhabitants scattered and killed.  When the Sacconi Quartet suggested that I might choose a Syrian poet for our collaboration, I welcomed the idea.

I searched for a long time to find a contemporary poet whose work might gain from any music I could imagine.  I felt it was important to find first-hand accounts of the Syrian experience – but, of course, I was always reading them in translation.  In an anthology called Syria Speaks, I was astonished to read something that looked like prose, but was full of poetry.  It was Anne-Marie McManus’s fine translation of Ali Safar’s A Black Cloud in a Leaden White Sky – an eloquent, thoughtful, contained yet vivid account of life in a war-torn country, all the more moving for its restraint.

In setting these words, I have not attempted to imitate Syrian music.  However, there is what might be called a linguistic accommodation in my choice of scale, or mode.  Several movements are in a mode that I first discovered while writing a cantata commemorating the First World War: it has a tuning that I associate with war, its violence and desolation.  This eight-note mode is similar to scales found in Syrian music.  I did not choose it in the abstract: it emerged from the harmonies I was exploring in the earlier work, and emerged again as I was looking for the right musical colours to set Ali Safar’s words.  In this work, its Arabic aspect is more prominent. - Jonathan Dove

SKU: BP.BP2178

Printed product.

This thoughtful, poetic consideration of life through the seasons is wonderfully suited for times of contemplation and prayer. Scored for SATB chorus and piano, it is beautifully enhanced with the addition of the optional string quartet.

SKU: AP.37791

UPC: 038081434179. English. Traditional.

The Appalachian folk carol, Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head, was collected by folk musicologist (and the composer of the tune, I Wonder as I Wander), John Jacob Niles, in the early Twentieth Century. This hauntingly beautiful arrangement of the tune explores the Nativity with peaceful reverence and mysterious wonder. Watson's writing includes expressive tempo changes, lush scoring for full band, transparent episodes for woodwinds, and delicate percussion writing, offering bands ample opportunity for performing with musical beauty and eloquence. (3:50).

SKU: CF.YAS41

ISBN 9780825861291. UPC: 798408061296. 8.5 X 11 inches. Key: G major.

Larry Clark does it again with this tuneful new feel good piece. You and your students will walk away humming this tune. There is even a nice contrasting lyrical middle section in the relative minor to break up the piece.
Solstice: one of two times in the year when the sun is at its greatest distancefrom the celestial equator.A solstice happens at the mid-point of summer, about June 21, and the midpoint of winter, about December 22. Each of those times of year is delightful. The carefree days of summer have just begun around June 21, when the mind wanders to long bike rides or walks on the beach. During the winter solstice the mind is filled with all of the delights that the holiday season has to offer. Either way, a solstice is a joyous and fun filled time of year, and this piece is intended to bring to mind some of these wonderful times. The main theme should be performed in a light carefree manner, which is then contrasted by the more lyrical and passionate middle section.As with all of my pieces for younger students, the tempo indicated is merely a guide. Adjust the tempo to fit the needs of your students. It has been my pleasure to have the opportunity to write this piece. I hope you and your students enjoy it and find it useful for your program.

About Carl Fischer Young String Orchestra Series

Thi s series of Grade 2/Grade 2.5 pieces is designed for second and third year ensembles. The pieces in this series are characterized by:
--Occasionally extending to third position
--Keys carefully considered for appropriate difficulty
--Addition of separate 2nd violin and viola parts
--Viola T.C. part included
--Increase in independence of parts over beginning levels