Though recorded by many artists Louis Armstrong's 1968 rendition made this a hit and established it as a standard. The optimistic message regarding the future is beautifully captured in this orchestrated choral with lush and full harmonies and will certainly become a classic for your own choir. Available separately: SATB SAB 2-Part Full Orchestration Parts and Score StudioTrax CD. Duration: ca. 4:10.
SKU: AP.48868
UPC: 038081561929. English.
New 2-part voicing! Here's an inspired setting that faithfully retains the Hawaiian character of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover. In this well-crafted treble version, both sections of the choir take a turn singing the classic melody, while the opposite part interjects with independent aloha's. This easy-to-do treatment performs well with the light piano part, an optional ukulele/guitar, or the professional SoundTrax accompaniment. It's a special arrangement that honors the depth of the original, the spirit of Brother Iz, and the beauty of the earth.
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: HL.48000909
UPC: 073999257076. 8.25x11.75x0.2 inches.
Contents: I Took That Trip towards an Early Daybreak * What Is There Arising from behind Your Eyelids * I am Walking over Tiny Spots of Snow * Deep is the Night * In the Great Wild Woodlands * In Between Grey Stones * Lucky Cat * To You I Would Make a Gift of Sunflowers * I am Not Speaking, I am Singing * Vocalise * Melancholy * The Squirrel * O Wonderful World * Song of My Heart * Like a Pale Mask, the Hour of Parting * Spring Song * Summer Night * Herbsttag * Winter.
SKU: WD.080689629174
UPC: 080689629174.
Word Music & Church Resources’ best-selling Unison/2-Part Choir, easy-learn, easy-sing imprint, the Very Simply Word Series, is proud to present its newest release, Noel, Christ Is Born! What better way to kick-off the Christmas season than with joyous songs of celebration? Your congregation will love these newly arranged songs, such as Christ Is Come with O Come, All Ye Faithful; Light of the World; The Wonder of It All, and more, specially arranged for unison/2-part choirs! Creating the perfect celebratory Christmas service, Noel, Christ Is Born! will be an impactful performance your choir and congregation will never forget. The Very Simply Word Series is dedicated to providing you and your choir with impressive dynamics, and compelling, yet easy to sing arrangements. Whether you are looking for something for a smaller choir, a choir that is still learning, or a larger choir with little to no rehearsal time, Noel, Christ Is Born! will give your congregation an amazing Christmas performance in an accessible vocal part-writing format, perfect for any choir.
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
