Three for America - TTBB

SKU: PR.312419270

ISBN 9781491137918. UPC: 680160692606. English. Charles Mackay.

Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?

SKU: HL.14018993

ISBN 9788759850978. 7.25x10.25x0.061 inches. Latin.

This set of three motets for unaccompanied male choir sets the Latin words for the De Profundis, Ave Maria and Laudate and manifests Lewkovitch's fascination both with chant and with modality.Contemporary Danish composer, conductor and Organist Bernhard Lewkovitch has followed a rare path among modern composers. From 1947 he was Organist at St Ansgars Kirches and later remained connected with the Catholic Church by working as an Organist. Clearly he is inspired by the Catholic liturgy and sees his great output of ecclesiastical music as a vocation and a great responsibility. For many years his work by inspired by Gregorian chant and was composed in church modes, then inthe mid 1950's he began to expand into modern bitonality and polytonality, culminating in Il cantico delle creature in 1962/3 in which there was no conventional notation and no fixed pitch. After that, Lewkovitch had somewhat of a hiatus, later returning again to the inspirations of the mid1950's.

SKU: GI.G-9890

ISBN 9781622774005.

In addition to celebrating the history of male choirs in the United States, Conducting Men’s Choirs provides a thorough and practical guide for working with TTBB choruses of any age or experience. The chapters by Jerry Blackstone, Jefferson Johnson, and J. Reese Norris display knowledge gained from over seventy years of collective experience. Additionally, Trott has designed the book to be an outstanding repertoire resource and a window to future possibilities through the inclusion of Marques Garrett’s chapter ‘Composing and Arranging for Male Choirs’ and Gary Packwood’s chapter ‘From Entertainment to Social Justice: Examining Men’s Community Choruses in America.’ The content in Conducting Men’s Choirs represents theory and practice that will benefit all conductors of TTBB choruses. —Kevin Fenton     Florida State University Inspired by Debra Spurgeon’s pioneering book Conducting Women’s Choirs, this companion resource, compiled and edited by Donald Trott, brings together the expertise of eighteen acknowledged authorities on men’s choirs. Conducting Men’s Choirs addresses the unique challenges, considerations, and joys of making music with male singers. The book is organized into three major sections, the first of which contains historical essays on male choirs in the United States. The chapters in this section span a range of relevant topics, including glee clubs in colleges and universities, an examination of some of the nation’s most esteemed and accomplished male choirs, and the role of male community choruses in America. The second section explores key aspects of working with male singers that are vital to the success of any conductor of male choirs. Topics addressed include: How to start a male choir and recruit male singers. Working with middle school boys and the developing adolescent voice. Pedagogical considerations for male voices. Procedures for improving intonation. Standing formations. Warm-ups. Women conductors of male choirs. How to arrange and compose for men’s choirs. A thorough discussion of repertoire for men’s choirs rounds out this resource in the book’s third and final section. Chapter authors explore men’s choir repertoire from a variety of angles: Renaissance music, works by Schumann, Canadian repertoire, and the music of Veljo Tormis. Extensive repertoire listings with hundreds of titles for men’s chorus are also provided for quick and easy reference. Conducting Men’s Choirs is essential for anyone working with male choirs in any capacity. Equally suited for novice teachers and seasoned professionals, this collaborative resource is the culmination of decades of experience and wisdom by leaders in the profession. Donald Trott is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Mississippi (Oxford), where he conducts the Concert Singers, Men’s Glee, and University Chorus. He is also the director of the graduate program in choral conducting and is past president of the Southern Division of ACDA.

SKU: HL.14043286

John Tavener 's O Where, Tell Me Where? was commissioned by The Bach Choir. It was first performed on 10th April 2014 at the Oriental Arts Centre, Shanghai, China by The Bach Choir conducted by David Hill. This piece for SSSSAAAATTBB Choir and Tubular Bells is a meditation on three traditional Scottish songs: The Blue Bells Of Scotland, My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose and The Skye Boat Song .