You Will Draw Water Joyfully / Sacarán Aguas con Alegría

SKU: GI.G-10515C

UPC: 785147051510.

The first comprehensive resource of its kind, Gloriosi contains a treasure trove of ritual music that bridges linguistic, cultural, and musical differences for the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Weaving together familiar tunes and ancient chants with newly-composed pieces, Tony Alonso has meticulously crafted the music of Gloriosi to inspire the participation of a diverse assembly during these celebrations at the heart of the liturgical year. In addition to settings of all of the ritual texts found in the Roman Missal / Misal Romano for the Three Days, this collection contains settings of every prescribed psalm drawn from texts approved for liturgical use in English and in Spanish. El primer recurso completo de su tipo, Gloriosi es un tesoro rebosante de música ritual que supera las diferencias lingüísticas, culturales y musicales para las liturgias del Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo y la Vigilia Pascual. Tejiendo melodías familiares y cantos antiguos con piezas recién compuestas, Tony Alonso ha elaborado meticulosamente la música de Gloriosi para inspirar la participación de una asamblea diversa durante estas celebraciones que están al centro del año litúrgico. Además de proporcionar los textos rituales que se encuentran en el Misal Romano / Roman Missal para los Tres Días en forma musicalizada, esta colección también ofrece nueva música para todos los salmos prescritos para las liturgias del Triduo utilizando los textos oficiales en español y en inglés. Listen to Music Samples on the Gloriosi Recording Page by Clicking HERE. CONTENTS: Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper / Jueves Santo de la Cena del Señor: We Should Glory in the Cross / Que Nuestro Único Orgullo Sea la Cruz • Blessed Be God Forever / Bendito Sea Dios por Siempre • Kyrie, Eleison • Our Blessing-Cup / El Cáliz que Bendecimos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • A New Commandment / Un Mandamiento Nuevo • Love One Another / Ámense Unos a Otros • Lord, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Ubi Caritas • Agnus Dei • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor • Called to Keep Vigil with the Lord / Llamados a Velar con el Señor • Tantum Ergo Sacramentum Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord / Viernes Santo de la Pasión del Señor: Into Your Hands / En Tus Manos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • Adoramus Te • The Solemn Intercessions of Good Friday / La Oración Universal del Viernes Santo • Behold the Wood of the Cross / Miren el Árbol de la Cruz • Faithful Cross / Cruz Fiel • Forgive Us, Your People / Perdona a Tu Pueblo • O Come, Let Us Worship / Venid, Oh Cristianos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night / Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa: The Easter Proclamation / Pregón Pascual • Lord, Send Out Your Spirit / Envía Tu Espíritu, Señor • Keep Me Safe, O God / Protégeme, Dios Mío • Let Us Sing to the Lord / Cantemos al Señor • I Will Praise You, Lord / Te Ensalzaré, Señor • You Will Draw Water Joyfully / Ustedes Sacarán Agua con Gozo • Words of Everlasting Life / Palabras de Vida Eterna • Like a Deer that Longs / Como Busca la Cierva (Psalm 42, 43 / Salmo 42/41, 43/42) • Easter Alleluia / Aleluya Pascual • Litany of the Saints / Letanía de los Santos • Alleluia Popular: Blessing of Water / Aleluya Popular: Bendición del Agua • Alleluia Popular: Baptism / Aleluya Popular: Bautismo • Alleluia Popular: Acclamation / Aleluya Popular: Aclamación • Veni Sancte Spiritus • Alleluia Popular: Sprinkling / Aleluya Popular: Aspersión • Lord, We Ask You, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor.

SKU: GI.G-10515

UPC: 785147051527. English, Spanish. Scripture: Psalm 16, Psalm 19, Psalm 30, Psalm 31, Psalm 42:3, 5cdef, Psalm 43:3, 4, Psalm 103:1–2a, 5–6, 10, 12, 13–14, 24, 35c, Psalm 103:30, Psalm 116, Psalm 118, 1 Corinthians 10:16, Luke 23:46, Isaiah 12.

The first comprehensive resource of its kind, Gloriosi contains a treasure trove of ritual music that bridges linguistic, cultural, and musical differences for the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Weaving together familiar tunes and ancient chants with newly-composed pieces, Tony Alonso has meticulously crafted the music of Gloriosi to inspire the participation of a diverse assembly during these celebrations at the heart of the liturgical year. In addition to settings of all of the ritual texts found in the Roman Missal / Misal Romano for the Three Days, this collection contains settings of every prescribed psalm drawn from texts approved for liturgical use in English and in Spanish. El primer recurso completo de su tipo, Gloriosi es un tesoro rebosante de música ritual que supera las diferencias lingüísticas, culturales y musicales para las liturgias del Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo y la Vigilia Pascual. Tejiendo melodías familiares y cantos antiguos con piezas recién compuestas, Tony Alonso ha elaborado meticulosamente la música de Gloriosi para inspirar la participación de una asamblea diversa durante estas celebraciones que están al centro del año litúrgico. Además de proporcionar los textos rituales que se encuentran en el Misal Romano / Roman Missal para los Tres Días en forma musicalizada, esta colección también ofrece nueva música para todos los salmos prescritos para las liturgias del Triduo utilizando los textos oficiales en español y en inglés. Listen to Music Samples on the Gloriosi Recording Page by Clicking HERE. CONTENTS: Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper / Jueves Santo de la Cena del Señor: We Should Glory in the Cross / Que Nuestro Único Orgullo Sea la Cruz • Blessed Be God Forever / Bendito Sea Dios por Siempre • Kyrie, Eleison • Our Blessing-Cup / El Cáliz que Bendecimos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • A New Commandment / Un Mandamiento Nuevo • Love One Another / Ámense Unos a Otros • Lord, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Ubi Caritas • Agnus Dei • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor • Called to Keep Vigil with the Lord / Llamados a Velar con el Señor • Tantum Ergo Sacramentum Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord / Viernes Santo de la Pasión del Señor: Into Your Hands / En Tus Manos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • Adoramus Te • The Solemn Intercessions of Good Friday / La Oración Universal del Viernes Santo • Behold the Wood of the Cross / Miren el Árbol de la Cruz • Faithful Cross / Cruz Fiel • Forgive Us, Your People / Perdona a Tu Pueblo • O Come, Let Us Worship / Venid, Oh Cristianos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night / Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa: The Easter Proclamation / Pregón Pascual • Lord, Send Out Your Spirit / Envía Tu Espíritu, Señor • Keep Me Safe, O God / Protégeme, Dios Mío • Let Us Sing to the Lord / Cantemos al Señor • I Will Praise You, Lord / Te Ensalzaré, Señor • You Will Draw Water Joyfully / Ustedes Sacarán Agua con Gozo • Words of Everlasting Life / Palabras de Vida Eterna • Like a Deer that Longs / Como Busca la Cierva (Psalm 42, 43 / Salmo 42/41, 43/42) • Easter Alleluia / Aleluya Pascual • Litany of the Saints / Letanía de los Santos • Alleluia Popular: Blessing of Water / Aleluya Popular: Bendición del Agua • Alleluia Popular: Baptism / Aleluya Popular: Bautismo • Alleluia Popular: Acclamation / Aleluya Popular: Aclamación • Veni Sancte Spiritus • Alleluia Popular: Sprinkling / Aleluya Popular: Aspersión • Lord, We Ask You, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor. Learn more about this collection in this webinar below featuring composer Tony Alonso.

SKU: GI.G-10515INST

UPC: 785147051596.

The first comprehensive resource of its kind, Gloriosi contains a treasure trove of ritual music that bridges linguistic, cultural, and musical differences for the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Weaving together familiar tunes and ancient chants with newly-composed pieces, Tony Alonso has meticulously crafted the music of Gloriosi to inspire the participation of a diverse assembly during these celebrations at the heart of the liturgical year. In addition to settings of all of the ritual texts found in the Roman Missal / Misal Romano for the Three Days, this collection contains settings of every prescribed psalm drawn from texts approved for liturgical use in English and in Spanish. El primer recurso completo de su tipo, Gloriosi es un tesoro rebosante de música ritual que supera las diferencias lingüísticas, culturales y musicales para las liturgias del Jueves Santo, Viernes Santo y la Vigilia Pascual. Tejiendo melodías familiares y cantos antiguos con piezas recién compuestas, Tony Alonso ha elaborado meticulosamente la música de Gloriosi para inspirar la participación de una asamblea diversa durante estas celebraciones que están al centro del año litúrgico. Además de proporcionar los textos rituales que se encuentran en el Misal Romano / Roman Missal para los Tres Días en forma musicalizada, esta colección también ofrece nueva música para todos los salmos prescritos para las liturgias del Triduo utilizando los textos oficiales en español y en inglés. Listen to Music Samples on the Recording Page by Clicking HERE CONTENTS: Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper / Jueves Santo de la Cena del Señor: We Should Glory in the Cross / Que Nuestro Único Orgullo Sea la Cruz • Blessed Be God Forever / Bendito Sea Dios por Siempre • Kyrie, Eleison • Our Blessing-Cup / El Cáliz que Bendecimos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • A New Commandment / Un Mandamiento Nuevo • Love One Another / Ámense Unos a Otros • Lord, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Ubi Caritas • Agnus Dei • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor • Called to Keep Vigil with the Lord / Llamados a Velar con el Señor • Tantum Ergo Sacramentum Good Friday of the Passion of the Lord / Viernes Santo de la Pasión del Señor: Into Your Hands / En Tus Manos • Glory to You / Gloria a Ti • Adoramus Te • The Solemn Intercessions of Good Friday / La Oración Universal del Viernes Santo • Behold the Wood of the Cross / Miren el Árbol de la Cruz • Faithful Cross / Cruz Fiel • Forgive Us, Your People / Perdona a Tu Pueblo • O Come, Let Us Worship / Venid, Oh Cristianos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night / Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa: The Easter Proclamation / Pregón Pascual • Lord, Send Out Your Spirit / Envía Tu Espíritu, Señor • Keep Me Safe, O God / Protégeme, Dios Mío • Let Us Sing to the Lord / Cantemos al Señor • I Will Praise You, Lord / Te Ensalzaré, Señor • You Will Draw Water Joyfully / Ustedes Sacarán Agua con Gozo • Words of Everlasting Life / Palabras de Vida Eterna • Like a Deer that Longs / Como Busca la Cierva (Psalm 42, 43 / Salmo 42/41, 43/42) • Easter Alleluia / Aleluya Pascual • Litany of the Saints / Letanía de los Santos • Alleluia Popular: Blessing of Water / Aleluya Popular: Bendición del Agua • Alleluia Popular: Baptism / Aleluya Popular: Bautismo • Alleluia Popular: Acclamation / Aleluya Popular: Aclamación • Veni Sancte Spiritus • Alleluia Popular: Sprinkling / Aleluya Popular: Aspersión • Lord, We Ask You, Hear Our Prayer / Te Rogamos, Óyenos • Called to the Supper of the Lamb / Llamados al Banquete del Señor.

SKU: GI.G-1109

SKU: GI.G-10534G

English, Spanish. Text Source: Isaías 12, Leccionario de la Misa, Isaiah 12, The Abbey Psalms and Canticles

SKU: GI.G-10425

UPC: 785147042518. English, Spanish. Text Source: Ref.: Lectionary for Mass, vv.: Isaiah 12 / Isaías 12:2, 4bcd, 5-6 (cf. 3), adapt. TA. Scripture: Isaiah 12:2, 3, 4bcd, 5–6.

This canticle is appointed as the response to the fifth reading of the Easter Vigil, for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (year B), and is optional for the Baptism of the Lord (year B). It could also be used as a song during the sprinkling rite throughout the Easter Season. The setting requires a strong cantor to clearly proclaim the calls and elicit a strong congregation response. Because the cantor always sings the call, various language configurations are possible.

This canticle is appointed as the response to the fifth reading of the Easter Vigil, for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (year B), and is optional for the Baptism of the Lord (year B). It could also be used as a song during the sprinkling rite throughout the Easter Season. The setting requires a strong cantor to clearly proclaim the calls and elicit a strong congregation response. Because the cantor always sings the call, various language configurations are possible. The C instrument part is optional.

SKU: GI.G-10534INST

SKU: GI.G-008529

UPC: 641151085296.

SKU: GI.G-10425INST

UPC: 785147042594.

The C instrument part is optional.

SKU: GI.G-10534

UPC: 785147053415. English, Spanish. Text Source: Isaías 12, Leccionario de la Misa, Isaiah 12, The Abbey Psalms and Canticles Scripture: Isaiah 12.

SKU: GI.G-006388

SKU: GI.G-10425G

UPC: 785147045076. Text Source: Ref.: Lectionary for Mass, vv.: Isaiah 12 / Isaías 12:2, 4bcd, 5–6 (cf. 3), adapt. TA.

SKU: GI.G-6014

English. Text Source: Isaiah 12, Lectionary for Mass Scripture: Isaiah 12.

SKU: MB.WBM75M

ISBN 9781737795353. 8.75X11.75 inches.

This is a collection of 86 guitar solos in notation only from William Bayâ??s books, Solo Guitar in Worship, Communion, Psalms, Timeless Gospel Melodies and Spirituals. The solos work well as preludes, offertories, communion hymns, recessionals or they can be played for enjoyment.  All 86 solos have been recorded and are available as online downloads with this book.

SKU: HL.400318

ISBN 9781596152397. UPC: 884088188283. 9.0x12.25x0.27 inches.

A second volume chock-full of charming pieces drawn from traditional and classical repertoire for clarinet and piano. Suitable for first-year through third-year students, this album will make practicing a true joy! Includes a high-quality printed music score and a compact disc featuring stereo piano accompaniments to each piece. Accompaniment: Harriet Wingreen, piano.

SKU: PR.46500013L

UPC: 680160600151. 11 x 14 inches.

I n 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clarks Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. He believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and mountains of pure salt awaited them. What they found was no less mind-boggling: some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies. I have been a student of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which Thomas Jefferson called the Voyage of Discovery, for as long as I can remember. This astonishing journey, lasting more than two-and-a-half years, began and ended in St. Louis, Missouri and took the travelers up more than a few rivers in their quest to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. In an age without speedy communication, this was akin to space travel out of radio range in our own time: no one knew if, indeed, the party had even survived the voyage for more than a year. Most of them were soldiers. A few were French-Canadian voyageurs hired trappers and explorers, who were fluent in French (spoken extensively in the region, due to earlier explorers from France) and in some of the Indian languages they might encounter. One of the voyageurs, a man named Pierre Cruzatte, also happened to be a better-than-average fiddle player. In many respects, the travelers were completely on their own for supplies and survival, yet, incredibly, only one of them died during the voyage. Jefferson had outfitted them with food, weapons, medicine, and clothing and along with other trinkets, a box of 200 jaw harps to be used in trading with the Indians. Their trip was long, perilous to the point of near catastrophe, and arduous. The dream of a Northwest Passage proved ephemeral, but the northwestern quarter of the continent had finally been explored, mapped, and described to an anxious world. When the party returned to St. Louis in 1806, and with the Louisiana Purchase now part of the United States, they were greeted as national heroes. I have written a sizeable number of works for wind ensemble that draw their inspiration from the monumental spaces found in the American West. Four of them (Arches, The Yellowstone Fires, Glacier, and Zion) take their names, and in large part their being, from actual national parks in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. But Upriver, although it found its voice (and its finale) in the magnificent Columbia Gorge in Oregon, is about a much larger region. This piece, like its brother works about the national parks, doesnt try to tell a story. Instead, it captures the flavor of a certain time, and of a grand adventure. Cast in one continuous movement and lasting close to fourteen minutes, the piece falls into several subsections, each with its own heading: The Dream (in which Jeffersons vision of a vast expanse of western land is opened); The Promise, a chorale that re-appears several times in the course of the piece and represents the seriousness of the presidential mission; The River; The Voyageurs; The River II ; Death and Disappointment; Return to the Voyage; and The River III . The music includes several quoted melodies, one of which is familiar to everyone as the ultimate river song, and which becomes the through-stream of the work. All of the quoted tunes were either sung by the men on the voyage, or played by Cruzattes fiddle. From various journals and diaries, we know the men found enjoyment and solace in music, and almost every night encampment had at least a bit of music in it. In addition to Cruzatte, there were two other members of the party who played the fiddle, and others made do with singing, or playing upon sticks, bones, the ever-present jaw harps, and boat horns. From Lewis journals, I found all the tunes used in Upriver: Shenandoah (still popular after more than 200 years), Vla bon vent, Soldiers Joy, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy (a hymn sung to the tune Beech Spring) and Fishers Hornpipe. The work follows an emotional journey: not necessarily step-by-step with the Voyage of Discovery heroes, but a kind of grand arch. Beginning in the mists of history and myth, traversing peaks and valleys both real and emotional (and a solemn funeral scene), finding help from native people, and recalling their zeal upon finding the one great river that will, in fact, take them to the Pacific. When the men finally roar through the Columbia Gorge in their boats (a feat that even the Indians had not attempted), the magnificent river combines its theme with the chorale of Jeffersons Promise. The Dream is fulfilled: not quite the one Jefferson had imagined (there is no navigable water passage from the Missouri to the Pacific), but the dream of a continental destiny.

SKU: PR.465000130

ISBN 9781598064070. UPC: 680160600144. 9x12 inches.

Following a celebrated series of wind ensemble tone poems about national parks in the American West, Dan Welcher’s Upriver celebrates the Lewis & Clark Expedition from the Missouri River to Oregon’s Columbia Gorge, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Welcher’s imaginative textures and inventiveness are freshly modern, evoking our American heritage, including references to Shenandoah and other folk songs known to have been sung on the expedition. For advanced players. Duration: 14’.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. He believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and mountains of pure salt awaited them. What they found was no less mind-boggling: some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies.Ihave been a student of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which Thomas Jefferson called the “Voyage of Discovery,” for as long as I can remember. This astonishing journey, lasting more than two-and-a-half years, began and ended in St. Louis, Missouri — and took the travelers up more than a few rivers in their quest to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. In an age without speedy communication, this was akin to space travel out of radio range in our own time: no one knew if, indeed, the party had even survived the voyage for more than a year. Most of them were soldiers. A few were French-Canadian voyageurs — hired trappers and explorers, who were fluent in French (spoken extensively in the region, due to earlier explorers from France) and in some of the Indian languages they might encounter. One of the voyageurs, a man named Pierre Cruzatte, also happened to be a better-than-average fiddle player. In many respects, the travelers were completely on their own for supplies and survival, yet, incredibly, only one of them died during the voyage. Jefferson had outfitted them with food, weapons, medicine, and clothing — and along with other trinkets, a box of 200 jaw harps to be used in trading with the Indians. Their trip was long, perilous to the point of near catastrophe, and arduous. The dream of a Northwest Passage proved ephemeral, but the northwestern quarter of the continent had finally been explored, mapped, and described to an anxious world. When the party returned to St. Louis in 1806, and with the Louisiana Purchase now part of the United States, they were greeted as national heroes.Ihave written a sizeable number of works for wind ensemble that draw their inspiration from the monumental spaces found in the American West. Four of them (Arches, The Yellowstone Fires, Glacier, and Zion) take their names, and in large part their being, from actual national parks in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. But Upriver, although it found its voice (and its finale) in the magnificent Columbia Gorge in Oregon, is about a much larger region. This piece, like its brother works about the national parks, doesn’t try to tell a story. Instead, it captures the flavor of a certain time, and of a grand adventure. Cast in one continuous movement and lasting close to fourteen minutes, the piece falls into several subsections, each with its own heading: The Dream (in which Jefferson’s vision of a vast expanse of western land is opened); The Promise, a chorale that re-appears several times in the course of the piece and represents the seriousness of the presidential mission; The River; The Voyageurs; The River II ; Death and Disappointment; Return to the Voyage; and The River III .The music includes several quoted melodies, one of which is familiar to everyone as the ultimate “river song,” and which becomes the through-stream of the work. All of the quoted tunes were either sung by the men on the voyage, or played by Cruzatte’s fiddle. From various journals and diaries, we know the men found enjoyment and solace in music, and almost every night encampment had at least a bit of music in it. In addition to Cruzatte, there were two other members of the party who played the fiddle, and others made do with singing, or playing upon sticks, bones, the ever-present jaw harps, and boat horns. From Lewis’ journals, I found all the tunes used in Upriver: Shenandoah (still popular after more than 200 years), V’la bon vent, Soldier’s Joy, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy (a hymn sung to the tune “Beech Spring”) and Fisher’s Hornpipe. The work follows an emotional journey: not necessarily step-by-step with the Voyage of Discovery heroes, but a kind of grand arch. Beginning in the mists of history and myth, traversing peaks and valleys both real and emotional (and a solemn funeral scene), finding help from native people, and recalling their zeal upon finding the one great river that will, in fact, take them to the Pacific. When the men finally roar through the Columbia Gorge in their boats (a feat that even the Indians had not attempted), the magnificent river combines its theme with the chorale of Jefferson’s Promise. The Dream is fulfilled: not quite the one Jefferson had imagined (there is no navigable water passage from the Missouri to the Pacific), but the dream of a continental destiny.

SKU: PR.165001000

ISBN 9781491129241. UPC: 680160669776. 9 x 12 inches.

Commissione d for a consortium of high school and college bands in the north Dallas region, FOR THEMYSTIC HARMONY is a 10-minute inspirational work in homage to Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon,patrons of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Van Cliburn Competition. Welcher draws melodic flavorfrom five American hymns, spirituals, and folk tunes of the 19th century. The last of these sources toappear is the hymn tune For the Beauty of the Earth, whose third stanza is the quatrain: “For the joy of earand eye, For the heart and mind’s delight, For the mystic harmony, Linking sense to sound and sight,”giving rise to the work’s title.
This work, commissioned for a consortium of high school bands in the north Dallas area, is my fifteenth maturework for wind ensemble (not counting transcriptions). When I asked Todd Dixon, the band director whospearheaded this project, what kind of a work he most wanted, he first said “something that’s basically slow,” butwanted to leave the details to me. During a long subsequent conversation, he mentioned that his grandparents,Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon, were prime supporters of the Fort Worth Symphony, going so far as to purchase anumber of high quality instruments for that orchestra. This intrigued me, so I asked more about his grandparentsand was provided an 80-page biographical sketch. Reading that article, including a long section about theirdevotion to supporting a young man through the rigors of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition fora number of years, moved me very much. Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon weren’t just supporters of the arts; theywere passionate lovers of music and musicians. I determined to make this work a testament to that love, and tothe religious faith that sustained them both. The idea of using extant hymns was also suggested by Todd Dixon,and this 10-minute work is the result.I have employed existing melodies in several works, delving into certain kinds of religious music more than a fewtimes. In seeking new sounds, new ways of harmonizing old tunes, and the contrapuntal overlaying of one tunewith another, I was able to make works like ZION (using 19th-century Revivalist hymns) and LABORING SONGS(using Shaker melodies) reflect the spirit of the composers who created these melodies, without sounding likepastiches or medleys. I determined to do the same with this new work, with the added problem of employingmelodies that were more familiar. I chose five tunes from the 19th century: hymns, spirituals, and folk-tunes.Some of these are known by differing titles, but they all appear in hymnals of various Christian denominations(with various titles and texts). My idea was to employ the tunes without altering their notes, instead using aconstantly modulating sense of harmony — sometimes leading to polytonal harmonizations of what are normallysimple four-chord hymns.The work begins and ends with a repeated chime on the note C: a reminder of steeples, white clapboard churchesin the country, and small church organs. Beginning with a Mixolydian folk tune of Caribbean origin presentedtwice with layered entrances, the work starts with a feeling of mystery and gentle sorrow. It proceeds, after along transition, into a second hymn that is sometimes connected to the sea (hence the sensation of water andwaves throughout it). This tune, by John B. Dykes (1823-1876), is a bit more chromatic and “shifty” than mosthymn-tunes, so I chose to play with the constant sensation of modulation even more than the original does. Atthe climax, the familiar spiritual “Were you there?” takes over, with a double-time polytonal feeling propelling itforward at “Sometimes it causes me to tremble.”Trumpets in counterpoint raise the temperature, and the tempo as well, leading the music into a third tune (ofunknown provenance, though it appears with different texts in various hymnals) that is presented in a sprightlymanner. Bassoons introduce the melody, but it is quickly taken up by other instruments over three “verses,”cons tantly growing in orchestration and volume. A mysterious second tune, unrelated to this one, interrupts it inall three verses, sending the melody into unknown regions.The final melody is “For the Beauty of the Earth.” This tune by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872) is commonly sung atThanksgiving — the perfect choice to end this work celebrating two people known for their generosity.Keeping the sense of constant modulation that has been present throughout, I chose to present this hymn in threegrowing verses, but with a twist: every four bars, the “key” of the hymn seems to shift — until the “Lord of all, toThee we praise” melody bursts out in a surprising compound meter. This, as it turns out, was the “mystery tune”heard earlier in the piece. After an Ivesian, almost polytonal climax, the Coda begins over a long B( pedal. At first,it seems to be a restatement of the first two phrases of “For the Beauty” with long spaces between them, but it soonchanges to a series of “Amen” cadences, widely separated by range and color. These, too, do not conform to anykey, but instead overlay each other in ways that are unpredictable but strangely comforting.The third verse of “For the Beauty of the Earth” contains this quatrain:“For the joy of ear and eye, –For the heart and mind’s delightFor the mystic harmonyLinking sense to sound and sight”and it was from this poetry that I drew the title for the present work. It is my hope that audiences and performerswill find within it a sense of grace: more than a little familiar, but also quite new and unexpected.

SKU: PR.16500100F

ISBN 9781491114421. UPC: 680160669783. 9 x 12 inches.

Commissione d for a consortium of high school and college bands in the north Dallas region, FOR THEMYSTIC HARMONY is a 10-minute inspirational work in homage to Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon,patrons of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Van Cliburn Competition. Welcher draws melodic flavorfrom five American hymns, spirituals, and folk tunes of the 19th century. The last of these sources toappear is the hymn tune For the Beauty of the Earth, whose third stanza is the quatrain: “For the joy of earand eye, For the heart and mind’s delight, For the mystic harmony, Linking sense to sound and sight,”giving rise to the work’s title.
This work, commissioned for a consortium of high school bands in the north Dallas area, is my fifteenth maturework for wind ensemble (not counting transcriptions). When I asked Todd Dixon, the band director whospearheaded this project, what kind of a work he most wanted, he first said “something that’s basically slow,” butwanted to leave the details to me. During a long subsequent conversation, he mentioned that his grandparents,Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon, were prime supporters of the Fort Worth Symphony, going so far as to purchase anumber of high quality instruments for that orchestra. This intrigued me, so I asked more about his grandparentsand was provided an 80-page biographical sketch. Reading that article, including a long section about theirdevotion to supporting a young man through the rigors of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition fora number of years, moved me very much. Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon weren’t just supporters of the arts; theywere passionate lovers of music and musicians. I determined to make this work a testament to that love, and tothe religious faith that sustained them both. The idea of using extant hymns was also suggested by Todd Dixon,and this 10-minute work is the result.I have employed existing melodies in several works, delving into certain kinds of religious music more than a fewtimes. In seeking new sounds, new ways of harmonizing old tunes, and the contrapuntal overlaying of one tunewith another, I was able to make works like ZION (using 19th-century Revivalist hymns) and LABORING SONGS(using Shaker melodies) reflect the spirit of the composers who created these melodies, without sounding likepastiches or medleys. I determined to do the same with this new work, with the added problem of employingmelodies that were more familiar. I chose five tunes from the 19th century: hymns, spirituals, and folk-tunes.Some of these are known by differing titles, but they all appear in hymnals of various Christian denominations(with various titles and texts). My idea was to employ the tunes without altering their notes, instead using aconstantly modulating sense of harmony — sometimes leading to polytonal harmonizations of what are normallysimple four-chord hymns.The work begins and ends with a repeated chime on the note C: a reminder of steeples, white clapboard churchesin the country, and small church organs. Beginning with a Mixolydian folk tune of Caribbean origin presentedtwice with layered entrances, the work starts with a feeling of mystery and gentle sorrow. It proceeds, after along transition, into a second hymn that is sometimes connected to the sea (hence the sensation of water andwaves throughout it). This tune, by John B. Dykes (1823-1876), is a bit more chromatic and “shifty” than mosthymn-tunes, so I chose to play with the constant sensation of modulation even more than the original does. Atthe climax, the familiar spiritual “Were you there?” takes over, with a double-time polytonal feeling propelling itforward at “Sometimes it causes me to tremble.”Trumpets in counterpoint raise the temperature, and the tempo as well, leading the music into a third tune (ofunknown provenance, though it appears with different texts in various hymnals) that is presented in a sprightlymanner. Bassoons introduce the melody, but it is quickly taken up by other instruments over three “verses,”cons tantly growing in orchestration and volume. A mysterious second tune, unrelated to this one, interrupts it inall three verses, sending the melody into unknown regions.The final melody is “For the Beauty of the Earth.” This tune by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872) is commonly sung atThanksgiving — the perfect choice to end this work celebrating two people known for their generosity.Keeping the sense of constant modulation that has been present throughout, I chose to present this hymn in threegrowing verses, but with a twist: every four bars, the “key” of the hymn seems to shift — until the “Lord of all, toThee we praise” melody bursts out in a surprising compound meter. This, as it turns out, was the “mystery tune”heard earlier in the piece. After an Ivesian, almost polytonal climax, the Coda begins over a long B( pedal. At first,it seems to be a restatement of the first two phrases of “For the Beauty” with long spaces between them, but it soonchanges to a series of “Amen” cadences, widely separated by range and color. These, too, do not conform to anykey, but instead overlay each other in ways that are unpredictable but strangely comforting.The third verse of “For the Beauty of the Earth” contains this quatrain:“For the joy of ear and eye, –For the heart and mind’s delightFor the mystic harmonyLinking sense to sound and sight”and it was from this poetry that I drew the title for the present work. It is my hope that audiences and performerswill find within it a sense of grace: more than a little familiar, but also quite new and unexpected.