Leading Men: Songs That Stopped the Show

SKU: WD.080689571176

UPC: 080689571176.

Once again, it’s time to start your Sunday morning service…and there’s no better w. y to do that than with a song. But which song? Lots of great titles to choose from – just make sure it’s a Gathering Song!

Word Music & Church Resources has just the right tool to help you choose the perfect Gathering Song with MORE GATHERING SONGS, the sophomore release in the series! The songs in this resourceful collection are designed to bring believers together, preparing their hearts for worship while encouraging the congregation to “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”

These are Gathering Songs…songs that encourage us to come into His presence with singing. These are Service Openers for Worship-Leading Choirs! Arranged and orchestrated by Cliff Duren, MORE GATHERING SONGS is a choral resource of Modern-Day Calls to Worship, designed to lead congregations to lift their voices, raise their hands, and open their hearts to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! MORE GATHERING SONGS—songs chosen especially for you and your choir to invite worshippers to come inside, joining hands, hearts, and voices together in songs of celebration and praise.

Open up your worship services in a bold, fresh w. y with these 10 new Gathering Song arrangements by Cliff Duren. Add the use of the dynamic, high-energy DVD Accompaniment Track, and watch your next Sunday morning service come alive!

SKU: PR.16500100F

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

Commissioned 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,”constantly 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: WD.080689546174

UPC: 080689546174.

Some music is ageless; unrestricted and unaffected by time.

TIMELESS

There are songs which naturally fit that description, and there are songs that don’t. The impressive list of songs in this new Integrity Choral Collection should never be described in any other way...TIMELESS.

Praise & Worship as a musical genre has evolved into diverse and far-ranging styles and textures; there literally is “something for everyone.” But just as certain hymns have stood the test of time and remain in the forefront of today’s Church repertoire, certain “first and second generation” praise & worship songs continue to enjoy similar longevity, popularity, and staying power.

Singing the latest and greatest, the newest and most cutting-edge songs don’t stand in the way of including some of these iconic classics in your praise & worship selections…songs like Give Thanks, Worthy, There Is None like You, Awesome in this Place, You Are Worthy, I Worship You, Almighty God, Above All, and more! In addition to incorporating them into your worship sets, add these gems to the repertoire of your modern worship choir for a fresh, new wave of inspiring and powerful choral arrangements, as you lead your congregation into His presence.

David Wise and David Shipps team up once again to bring you 10 uplifting arrangements for choir and orchestra, featuring 12 of Integrity’s most beloved and well-known songs. Worship Leading Choirs everywhere will find these TIMELESS classics a breath of fresh air and a soul-stirring complement to today’s church worship services!

SKU: AP.46946

UPC: 038081535951. English.

James Taylor's beautiful ballad gains new life in this simply stated a cappella setting by arranger Kirby Shaw. Sensible voice leading makes chords easy to tune, uncomplicated rhythms allow the text to speak. Awesome, accessible writing in every edition.

About Alfred Pop Choral Series

The Alfred Pop Series features outstanding arrangements of songs from the popular music genre. These publications provide exciting, contemporary, and educationally-sound arrangements for singers of all ages, from elementary through high school, to college and adult choirs.

SKU: AP.46944

UPC: 038081535937. English.

James Taylor's beautiful ballad gains new life in this simply stated a cappella setting by arranger Kirby Shaw. Sensible voice leading makes chords easy to tune, uncomplicated rhythms allow the text to speak. Awesome, accessible writing in every edition.

About Alfred Pop Choral Series

The Alfred Pop Series features outstanding arrangements of songs from the popular music genre. These publications provide exciting, contemporary, and educationally-sound arrangements for singers of all ages, from elementary through high school, to college and adult choirs.