Country Comfort

SKU: HL.49030396

ISBN 9790220122743. 9.0x12.0x0.067 inches. Vocalise.

No traditional tunes of any kind are made use of in this piece, in which I have wished to express my personal feelings about my own country (Australia) and people, and also to voice a certain kind of emotion that seems to me not untypical of native-born Colonials in general.Perhaps it is not unnatural that people living more or less lonelily in vast virgin countries and struggling against natural and climatic hardships (rather than against the more actively and dramaticly exciting counter wills of their fellow men, as in more thickly populated lands) should run largely to that patiently yearning, inactive sentimental wistfulness that we find so touchingly expressed in much American art; for instance in Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn, and Stephen C. Foster's adorable songs, My Old Kentucky Home, Old Folks at Home, etc. I have also noticed curious, almost Italian-like, musical tendencies in brass band performances and ways of singing in Australia (such as a preference for richness and intensity of tone and soulful breadth of phrasing over more subtly and sensitively varied delicacies of expression) which are also reflected here.Percy Aldridge Grainger.

SKU: CF.CPS240F

ISBN 9781491157879. UPC: 680160916474. 9 x 12 inches.

Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, itas like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it's like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it’s like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.  The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through.  As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country.  The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape.  The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix.  Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion.  Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.

SKU: CF.CPS240

ISBN 9781491157862. UPC: 680160916467. 9 x 12 inches.

Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, itas like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it's like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it’s like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.  The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through.  As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country.  The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape.  The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix.  Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion.  Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.

SKU: CF.FAS65F

ISBN 9780825883910. UPC: 798408083915. 8.5 x 11 inches.

Take a musical journey down an old country road with Road to the Rock Hole, a breath of fresh air from up-and-coming composer George Sweet. The Americana feel of this piece is at once comforting and inspiring, featuring lush, open harmonies and soaring melodies.

SKU: KJ.WB441F

UPC: 084027042311.

Begin ning with flourishes and fanfares, An American Heritage is a snapshot of small towns across the country. Though seemingly challenging by initial appearance and sound, all parts lie comfortably on the instrument allowing everyone to contribute to the fabric of sound. Consider projecting pictures from your community during the performance to allow the audience to reflect on their own heritage.

SKU: GI.G-008272

This album delivers a message of faith, healing, and praise that will be cherished in parishes and households across the country. Each song is distinct in sound while carrying on Brian's guitar-based style and comforting vocals. You will be delighted to hear a variety of instrumentation across this album including piano, cello, electric guitar, and mandolin. Instant favorites include title track, Born Again and joyous praise and worship tune The Name of Jesus co-written by Jeff Thomas.

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.