Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'a cappella'.
Found 23 results
-
Years ago, I've composed a Libera Me. When I wrote it, I started by a version a cappella. Finally, I decided to add an orchestra because I thought it could bring the piece to another dimension. What do think about this choice?
-
I wrote this piece ten years ago, but just went through and made an mp3 with myself singing all the parts. (Pardon my bass line, and thank you autotune for allowing me to fake a bass part). In the last days, When the land is rolled up, And the seas are poured out, And every thing is put away, Come and sit with me, my old friend, And we'll watch are the stars are turned out, One by one.
-
Today perhaps more commonly known by the title "Down to the River to Pray," this traditional African American spiritual was first published as "The Good Old Way" in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War, and is believed to originate from the Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi area. A variation of the tune was popularized by the movie 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' I wanted to familiarize people with the older version of the melody, since all the arrangements I have seen in recent years use the 'O Brother' version. As the text in the earliest published copies is very sketchily presented and 100% repetitive if taken at face value, (after the first verse, it just says, "Sister, etc." I took the liberty of modifying it slightly to add a little variety and sense of storytelling as well as harmonizing the different verses in different ways. The melody which begins at rehearsal mark C was whistled by Dick, last name unrecorded, a black pole-man on the steamboat Marion on the Ocklawaha River route in May of 1875, as transcribed in the book "Florida: Its Scenery, Climate, and History." I loved the idea of adding another musical source that would be completely novel to all but the music historians, and that in all probability the melody is Dick's own composition. There is just enough information about him that it is possible that someone researching family history may recognize him as their ancestor and add more detail to the story. I'd love to hear your thoughts! As I went down in the valley to pray, studyin' about that heav'nly day, when you shall wear the starry crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, mourners, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, mourners, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. As I went down in the valley to pray, studying' about that good old way, and who shall wear the wings and crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, sisters, let's go down, hand in hand, let's go down, Oh, sisters, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. As I went down in the valley to pray, studying' about that good old way! And would you wear His robe and crown? Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, brothers, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, brothers, let's go down, down in the valley to pray. Down, down, Oh let's go down, Good Lord, show me the way... As I went down, down to the valley, green swaying' trees, show me the way. As I went down in the valley to pray, studyin' about that good old way, and you shall wear that starry crown, Good Lord, show me the way. Oh, sinners, let's go down, let's go down, let's go down, Oh, sinners, let's go down, down in the valley to pray!
- 2 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- traditional
- down to the river to pray
- (and 3 more)
-
SATB, a cappella. This would work for a church service or a more secular event. For all the empty desks and voices missing from playgrounds across the United States. All the little angels rise. See how they rise? All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise. They rise up to heaven with their rain boots on, puddle stompin’ then they’re gone. All the little angels rise. See how they rise? All the little angels rise. See how they rise? All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise. They rise up to heaven a-playin' drums: pots and pans and kitchen tongs. All the little angels rise. See how they rise? All the little angels rise. See how they rise? All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise. They rise up to heaven with their jammies on, rosy toes and then they’re gone. All the little angels rise. See how they rise?
-
Moderate difficulty and modest ranges for all vocal parts. There are a few notes of divisi for every part but the tenors. I'd love to hear what you think, and pianists, let me know if the piano reduction would be better with any notes moved to the other hand. (I'm not a pianist). Thanks for your thoughts! The text follows the lifecycle of the bumble bee. Unlike domesticated honey bees, out of the whole colony, only new bumble bee queens survive the winter each year. Each new pregnant queen must carefully select a nest site after emerging for winter dormancy and start a colony all alone. For the first few weeks of spring, she must divide her time between laying eggs, gathering and preparing nectar and pollen, and warming and caring for her new offspring. If her nest site proves to be too far from a continual succession of blooms while the weather is still cool, her babies will succumb to the cold while she is away from the nest gathering food for them. Until the first generation of workers are old enough to take over some of the tasks of caring for the group, allowing for grocery trips further from home, and warm temperatures and the flood of summer flowers makes comfort and food supplies more sure, her nest's survival is tenuous. But if all goes well, by the time summer wanes, hundreds of her children will be busy among the blooms, and her own new queens will be preparing to disperse and carry on the cycle the next year. It's also important to remember that although we may see hundreds of bumble bees out in the garden, genetically speaking, each nest counts as one individual. One reproducing queen: one set of genes being passed down. All those workers don't generally count. So when you are thinking about the survival of a bumble bee species, you need not just lots of bumble bees, but lots of bumble bee nests in an area in order to have the genetic diversity that allows the population to continue in a healthy way. Too few nests, each headed by a single reproducing queen, and even though you see tons of bees on the landscape, they may be in danger of slow local extinction from inbreeding. You can help! A mowed lawn, a sea of mulched flower bed, or a paved parking area is not bee habitat. None of these provide nesting sites or food. Bumble bees need drifts of fallen leaves to hide their nests under in summer, and for the queens to pass the winter under. So don't rake at least part of your yard, or compost your leaves in a big pile on site. Thick clumps of long grasses are also popular nesting sites. If you could hide a rabbit in it, it's probably thick and clumpy enough. Cohabitating with chipmunks in their holes is also popular, so tolerate those cute little guys in your yard. And be sure to have plenty of native flowering plants in your yard. Our local bees evolved with our local plants. Often plants from other continents don't have the right flower shape for them to access, bloom at the wrong time, or don't provide the right nutrition they need to thrive. Humans mess around with breeding flowers for color and size so much, that often we end up breeding flowers that actually contain no nectar or pollen. Oops! No food there at all!
- 7 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- a cappella
- flowers
- (and 6 more)
-
Young composers of the U.S. and Canada, The Capital Hearings 2022 Young Composers Competition is LIVE! We are welcoming submission of compositions for mixed, unaccompanied vocal ensemble of 12 to 14 voices. This year, our 8th Annual Young Composers Competition is eager to hear your thoughts on how Light of any kind interacts with your world. If you feel like you have something to say–or find that something you’ve already written might speak to us–we’d love to hear it! All U.S. & Canadian residents age 18-40 are welcome to submit a 2-5 minute original composition (arranged for mixed, unaccompanied choir) related to this theme, and we especially welcome submissions from unique or underrepresented perspectives – and in unique or underrepresented styles. More information on the theme, guidelines for submissions, and submission instructions can be found at this link: https://www.thecapitalhearings.com/competition/ Submissions are due by June 15, 2022, and a prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the winner. All applicants will be notified of the final decision by July 15, 2022. Please direct any questions to composers@thecapitalhearings.com. -
Hi all, Any feedback would be appreciated. An extra set of eyes on the score for enharmonic equivalents and other notation errors in particular! Thanks! Come marry me unto the earth. Cover me up with your roses, Cover me up with the ashes of my youth. I’ll drink the night gladly. Bend me to the arms of the earth. Fill my ears, pond deep. Eyes are for dreaming, Ease them shut. Skin is for the living, Crumple it to the floor, Skin is for the living, Live no more. But let me keep my love. Trust me with your remembering, And watch me off to sleep.
-
I thought it would be a nice challenge to write something that alternates between solo, trio, and full chorus. In order to follow the natural rhythm of the text, the meter varies a bit. I'd love to hear any thoughts you care to share, particularly about my piano reduction. I'm definitely not a pianist. Are there any notes you'd want to put in the other hand? Thanks! Let me hear of Your loving-kindness in the morning, for I put my trust in You; show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to You. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, for I flee to you for refuge. Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God; let your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Revive me, O Lord, for your Name's sake; for your righteousness' sake, bring me out of trouble.
-
10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
-
Thanks for your thoughts! On a night of roses, stars bloom overhead. Miles ago and years away, a furnace burst into flame. The fox-bright black births a new point, smaller than a thought, a whisper of light. The universe is breathing, and we, heady moths, drunk on the scent, In and out, in and out.
-
It may be November, but church musicians have been thinking about Christmas music for months! Ho-ho-ho!
-
I'd love to hear any thoughts you have about this piece, particularly about the clarity of the piano reduction. Ideally this would be performed a cappella, but it's nice to have a piano reduction for rehearsal or in case the singers need some support. There is some part crossing between the sopranos and altos. It doesn't go out of range for anyone and I liked the way the lines flowed for each part better this way. Any enharmonics you would mark differently? Psalm 133: 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Thanks for taking the time to listen! Here's a youtube demo video with the score rolling by:
-
I'm sure I could find more things to fidget with, but I'm tired of staring at it. Anyone else want to stare at it for me instead? Suggestions for notating the piano reduction are particularly welcome. I'm not a pianist and there are a lot of moving lines to squish in there. I'd love to know what people think in general. Score attached so you can follow along with the words while you listen. The text is from the psalms and translates to "As a hart longs for the flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God." Hart is an old fashioned word for "deer." It's also a pun on the word "heart." Thanks! Here's a youtube with the score rolling by:
-
Hi All, Just joined this place after somebody recommended it to me. I have this large choir piece that I recently wrote, and I'm wondering if anybody would like to give feedback on it? If you have an questions on what anything means, please let me know! Best Regards, Thomas Håkanson, aka Dusty
-
I love this text from Pliny the Elder's "Natural History," and I think it suits itself particularly well to text painting as a choral piece. I'd love any feedback, but particularly if you notice problems with my use of the latin (I never studied latin), or can think of any changes I should make to the piano reduction (I'm not a pianist.) Thanks! sed turrigeros elephantiorum miramur umeros taurorumque colla et truces in sublime iactus, tigrium rapinas, leonum iubas, cum rerum natura nusquam magis quam in minimis tota sit. ...cum in contemplatione naturae nihil possit videri supervacuum. We marvel at the shoulders of elephants carrying turrets, and bulls tossing aside whatever stands in their way with their strong necks, at the ravening of tigers, at lions' manes, but Nature is nowhere greater than in her smallest works… in the study of the natural world, nothing is superfluous. Here is a youtube of the music with the score rolling by. [Edited 6/12/24 to add multitrack recording version of YouTube demo].
-
Hi folks - I was slightly active on this forum from about 2012-2014. Now that I have a little free time, I'm back to share some more music, and it's nice to see so many new members here. Although I've written extensively for all kinds of instrumental ensembles and accompanied voices, I still feel like I'm going by the seat of my pants when writing unaccompanied choir music. This is my 2nd a cappella piece, and there are still some things in it I'm not terribly fond of. In the first half of this piece, I deliberately avoided the lush, homophonic textures that seem to characterize 95% of a cappella choral pieces written today. I tried to create interest in other ways, but I'm not sure it is entirely effective (particularly the transition before letter B... does this break the piece's momentum prematurely? I can't decide). I finally gave in and wrote big, pretty chords in the 2nd half, which I'm actually satisfied with. If anyone has suggestions about making this easier, I'd be happy to hear those as well. Ideally, I'd like this to be singable by intermediate (i.e. decent high school and community) choirs. Thanks for listening! SCORE and AUDIO PS - this mockup is "performed" by Virharmonic Voices of Prague sample library. Word-building choir software is still a long way from sounding realistic, but since I don't have a live recording yet, I figure this is better than MIDI.
-
This is my first time posting on this site! Just looking for some feedback/suggestions on a few pieces. Unfortunately, all I have is a MIDI file for sound, so I suppose that will have to do. Thanks in advance for any comments! P.S. The midi recording has some strange mistakes in it. Most likely because of not wanting to double up on accidentals when different layers in each part share a note.
-
Hi all! I've been busy with small business busy season, but I'll be a bit more present on this site after the Christmas rush is over. Here's a short fall piece I managed to put together. I'd love to hear any feedback, particularly any comments about my piano reduction notation, since I don't actually play piano. I simplified a few rhythms to try to make the choral counterpart actually playable, but if you can think of better solutions, let me know. If anything looks like it would be easier played with the other hand, or my enharmonic equivalents should be switched from sharps to flats or the reverse, please let me know. Notation that's just a little "off" always slows down rehearsals so I do want to do it right, but I don't always know the best way to do it. I've attached a pdf of the score. And here's a video with the score rolling by: -pateceramics Furtak-The Rake.mid
-
The Congregational Church of Needham was nice enough to do a Sunday service of music I'd written and let me record it. There were only 9 singers, but they still did a great job. I made a little youtube video below, and am also attaching the sound file and a pdf of the score:
-
The Needham Congregational Church was nice enough to let me record the choir singing this. There were only 9 singers that day, but they did a great job anyway! A piece with a gospel/spiritual/tent revival/Sacred Harp/shape note singing feel. I had great fun with the three-part women's split towards the end. To be sung at a slow walking tempo, with a strong accent on the downbeat. I marked an obnoxious number of breaths to be sure that everyone is breathing in time, to help keep the syncopations and the triplet/duplet structure together. Liberties can absolutely be taken with the soprano part, if performed by a small group with a strong soloist. It's a mighty rocky road. Traveling a mighty rocky road. "It's a mighty rocky road," she said, "it goes on forever and ever." (Sweet water divine. Sweet Savior of mine. Oh, my Jesus will find me in time. Sweet water divine.) I hear singing down the road. Can't you hear them singing down the road? "It's a mighty rocky road," she said, "it goes on forever and ever." (Sweet water, etc) All the saints been down the road, just before me, walkin' down the road. "See them walking hand in hand," she said, "though the way goes on forever."
- 11 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- sacred harp
- spiritual
- (and 2 more)
-
Hey YC, Sibelius 6 question: I'm doing an a cappella arrangement, and just for the intro, I have five systems: Sopranos (two staves: soprano 1, soprano 2), Altos (two staves: alto 1, alto 2), Tenors (two staves: tenor 1, tenor 2), Baritone, and Bass. For the rest of the piece, I want a more traditional layout, with four one-staff systems (SATB). What is the best way to do this? I've already done the system breaks. I know that one way to do it is to use the "hide empty staves" tool, but because you can't use that tool in panorama, wouldn't I have to do that for 3 staves on every page? Thanks for your help! jbhartov -
Meistersingers is proud to present their 6th Annual Choral Composition Competition. Also, we are extremely excited to release this announcement under the new name, the Knapp Award. Named in honor of Jim and Sally Knapp, ardent supporters of Meistersingers, their commitment will ensure this competition will continue for many years to come. In the 6th year of its existence this competition has received over 400 submissions, more than half created specifically for Meistersingers. With $5000 in prize money awarded to date, to both established and upcoming composers, Meistersingers is committed to fostering the future of the choral art. Please visit www.meistersingers.org for more information and the application Postmark Deadline: March 1, 2012 Prize: *$1,000.00 and at least two performances by Meistersingers *Archival recording for winner’s use toward publishing *Possible commercial recording by Meistersingers There is a $25 entry fee Submission Guidelines: Complete Competition Submission Form (can be downloaded from www.meistersingers.org) Original Composition for 4-8 part SATB a cappella choir (further divisi possible/range is not an issue) Texts focusing on light or dark themes are preferred. 4-8 minutes long Must be a world premiere performance (rehearsal read-throughs are acceptable) Anonymous Submission - Remove all names (except poet, if necessary) and identifying marks; - Provide a sealed envelope containing your name, address, email, the title and performance history of the piece (if applicable), and phone number. Submit a legible, photo-copy ready, score with piano reduction for rehearsal purposes - including a recording (MIDI, piano, etc.) is strongly encouraged but not required. If text is not in public domain, composer is responsible for including written permission to use it Selection Process: The Music Director/Conductor, Brian Dehn, shall review all scores received. A Selection Committee, consisting of members chosen by the Music Director/Conductor and Board, shall review many of the scores received. The decision of the Music Director/Conductor and Selection Committee will be final. Winning Composer will be notified by April 2, 2012 Other Items of Interest: Texts that focus on dark/light/day/night are preferred as our summer concert is centered on those themes. The winning composition is scheduled to be performed in May of 2012 in the Southern California area. Meistersingers encourages the composer’s attendance and cooperation in media publicity and press coverage. The winning composer must provide a final performance score by April 6, 2012. Meistersingers shall make 35 copies for the chorus, director, and rehearsal accompanist. There are no restrictions according to race, sex, or age. A composer may submit more than one piece. Meistersingers reserves the right not to select a winning composition and/or award a prize. A brief description of Meistersingers, including Mission Statement and type of literature performed, can be found on their website: www.meistersingers.org Send all Submissions, along with form to: Meistersingers, Inc. Knapp Award 8941 Atlanta Avenue #187 Huntington Beach, CA 92646 For further information, visit the website or email bdehn@meistersingers.org Application.pdf Knapp info.pdf -
Hi there! I'm working on arranging Eleanor Rigby for my college A Cappella group. It's my first arrangement, indeed my first composition, that I've ever finished and that will ever be performed. So far, however, I'm not terribly pleased with how it sounds, and I'm not sure why. I was wondering if you guys could take a look at my work and give me some suggestions on what to change, and what might make it sound better! Thanks! We started learning it Monday, and... it's ok. But it's not great, and I don't know why. Something's off about it. Now, I think some of it might be that we're still learning it, and don't have great sight readers. But I'm concerned that some of the problem is the arrangement. So if you could give me some advise that would be very appreciated! Eleanor Rigby.pdf Eleanor Rigby.mid
