Choral Commissioning Opportunities
SATB
O MOST WONDERFUL
Text: A Translation of “O Sanctissima”
O most wonderful!
O Most merciful!
Christ, our Saviour, is born on earth!
Sinners forgiven,
Sorrow forgotten:
Greet, O greet we now this glorious birth!
O most wonderful!
O most merciful!
Christ, our Saviour, is born on earth!
Christ comes among us,
Christ will redeem us:
Greet, O greet we now this glorious birth!
O most wonderful!
O Most merciful!
Christ, our Saviour, is born on earth!
Armies on high sing
Praises unending:
Greet, O greet we now this glorious birth!
DESCRIPTION: I envision a lyrical setting of this beautiful text with a flowing piano accompaniment
Scored for SATB and piano
Timing: 3-4 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: October 15, 2019
Sign-up deadline: September 22, 2019
THE LIGHT OF THE HEART
Text by: Rumi
The light which shines in the eye
is really the light of the heart.
The light which fills the heart
is the light of God
DESCRIPTION:
I am envisioning a very contemplative, personal, intimate setting. Featuring voicings that include some clusters, drawing on a variety of choral colors, including setting parts of the piece as a cappella sections.
Scored for SATB and piano
Timing: 2-4 minutes
Cost per participant: $150
DELIVERED: January 2020
Sign-up deadline November 30, 2019
THE LIFE OF LOVE XVI: SUMMER
Text by: Khalil Gibran
Let us go into the fields, my beloved, for the
Time of harvest approaches, and the sun’s eyes
Are ripening the grain.
Let us tend the fruit of the earth, as the
Spirit nourishes the grains of Joy from the
Seeds of Love, sowed deep in our hearts.
Let us fill our bins with the products of
Nature, as life fills so abundantly the
Domain of our hearts with her endless bounty.
Let us make the flowers our bed, and the
Sky our blanket, and rest our heads together
Upon pillows of soft hay.
Let us relax after the day’s toil, and listen
To the provoking murmur of the brook.
DESCRIPTION: As the second part of a 4-piece series based on a beautiful text by Khalil Gibran.
Scored for: SATB choir and piano
Timing: 3-5 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: February, 2020
Sign-up deadline December 15, 2019
THE LIFE OF LOVE XVI: AUTUMN
Text by: Khalil Gibran
Let us go and gather grapes in the vineyard
For the winepress, and keep the wine in old
Vases, as the spirit keeps Knowledge of the
Ages in eternal vessels.
Let us return to our dwelling, for the wind has
Caused the yellow leaves to fall and shroud the
Withering flowers that whisper elegy to Summer.
Come home, my eternal sweetheart, for the birds
Have made pilgrimage to warmth and lest the chilled
Prairies suffering pangs of solitude. The jasmine
And myrtle have no more tears.
Let us retreat, for the tired brook has
Ceased its song; and the bubblesome springs
Are drained of their copious weeping; and
Their cautious old hills have stored away
Their colorful garments.
Come, my beloved; Nature is justly weary
And is bidding her enthusiasm farewell
With quiet and contented melody.
DESCRIPTION: As the third part of a 4-piece series based on a beautiful text by Khalil Gibran.
Scored for: SATB choir and piano
Timing: 3-6 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: March, 2020
Sign-up deadline January 10, 2020
THE LIFE OF LOVE XVI: WINTER
Text by: Khalil Gibran
Come close to me, oh companion of my full life;
Come close to me and let not Winter’s touch
Enter between us. Sit by me before the hearth,
For fire is the only fruit of Winter.Speak to me of the glory of your heart, for
That is greater than the shrieking elements
Beyond our door.
Bind the door and seal the transoms, for the
Angry countenance of the heaven depresses my
Spirit, and the face of our snow-laden fields
Makes my soul cry.
Feed the lamp with oil and let it not dim, and
Place it by you, so I can read with tears what
Your life with me has written upon your face.
Bring Autumn’s wine. Let us drink and sing the
Song of remembrance to Spring’s carefree sowing,
And Summer’s watchful tending, and Autumn’s
Reward in harvest.
Come close to me, oh beloved of my soul; the
Fire is cooling and fleeing under the ashes.
Embrace me, for I fear loneliness; the lamp is
Dim, and the wine which we pressed is closing
Our eyes. Let us look upon each other before
They are shut.
Find me with your arms and embrace me; let
Slumber then embrace our souls as one.
Kiss me, my beloved, for Winter has stolen
All but our moving lips.
You are close by me, My Forever.
How deep and wide will be the ocean of Slumber,
And how recent was the dawn!
DESCRIPTION: As the fourth part of a 4-piece series based on a wonderful text by Khalil Gibran.
Scored for: SATB choir and piano
Timing: 3-5 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: June, 2020
Sign-up deadline March 15, 2020
MENS CHOIR
INVICTUS
Text by: Wiliams Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
DESCRIPTION: I envision a dramatic setting for men’s choir and piano. Rich in textures and emulating the powerful expression of the strength of the human spirit.
Scored for: Men’s Choir and piano
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: February, 2020
Sign-up deadline December 15, 2019
SAB/MIXED CHOIR
AND THIS SHALL BE MUSIC
Text by: Robert Louis Stevenson taken from Romance
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
The fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire,
Of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
DESCRIPTION: I envision a melodic lyrical setting, with a complimentary piano accompaniment.
Scored for: SAB and piano
Timing: 2-4 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: January, 2021
Sign-up deadline November 1, 2020
O VOS OMNES
Text from the Latin Vulgate
O vos ómnes qui transítis per víam, atténdite et vidéte:
Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
Atténdite, univérsi pópuli, et vidéte dolórem méum.
Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
Translation
O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
DESCRIPTION: This powerful text from Lamentations provides a wonderful opportunity to create a stirring and powerful setting for mixed voices.
Scored for: SAB and piano
Timing: 2-4 minutes
Cost per Participant: $150
DELIVERED: October, 2020
Sign-up deadline August 15, 2020