My Favorite Christmas Carols/Songs (Part I)

For the next three days, I'm going to offer up some of my favorite Christmas carols and songs, and try to include some great recordings of them.  Each day I'm going to try to include 1 of my favorite traditional carols or songs, and 1 "guilty pleasure." Enjoy!

Traditional Pick of the Day - "Once in Royal David's City."

What better way to start this list?  A profound and beautiful carol that is so peaceful - definitely one of my favorites.

Guilty Pleasure Pick of the Day - "River" - Sarah McLachlan 

River is a beautiful song written by the legendary folk singer Joni Mitchell. Sarah McLachlan (whose voice I really like) sings what I think is a captivating version of the song.

It is one of those songs that automatically transports me to another place - childhood. Christmas time specifically. It's funny because I didn't really listen to this song much until a couple of years ago, but when I listen to the song it makes me think of my childhood. I guess the song has a bit of a nostalgic tone to it...and I certainly have fond memories of childhood Christmas expectation, joy and peace.

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Say Hi to the Midwest Clinic for Me!

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This week is the fantastic Midwest Clinic in Chicago - the largest gathering of wind and orchestra conductors, composers, ensembles, etc.   Unfortunately I won't be there, and I'm sure I will be missing some great performances, talks, colleagues, and friends!  I plan to be there next year, and who knows... if I'm lucky enough maybe I will have a piece performed! In honor of Midwest week, I'm posting this video from the 2009 Midwest Clinic featuring the one-and-only Eastman Wind Ensemble performing Mark Scatterday's transcription of Tumbao from Roberto Sierra's Symphony No. 3. Enjoy!

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Women's Choir Piece - In Progress

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In a previous post, I shared a beautiful text which I have been planning to set.  I've been working out some ideas for weeks and 2 weeks ago I decided that the piece would work well for women's choir (SA, some divisi) and piano. So, I've been hard at work and the piece is basically done now, just some editing and tweaking to do. It's one of those pieces I just wanted to write, and wasn't being written for specific performance or ensemble.  So...that means the premiere performance is up for grabs!  I'm posting this on my blog and facebook to see if a women's choir out there would like to premiere the piece.

If you/your ensemble is interested in premiering the piece, let me know (email steve [at] stevedanyew [dot] com).  As a special holiday treat, I'm willing to provide the PDF version for FREE to the ensemble that will premiere the piece!

The whole piece is about 4.5 minutes long.  The piece is not very difficult - sort of a delicate lullaby-type song.  The text is taken from a beautiful poem titled "My Song" by Rabindranath Tagore -  more details about the text follow the two pages below...

Tagore's "My Song" is a simple and beautiful poem - a collection of statements, promises, about "this song of mine." I selected several of the lines from the poem to make up the text for this piece. Here are the lines included in the text:

This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, like the fond arms of love. This song of mine will touch your forehead like a kiss of blessing. My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams, it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown. It will be like the faithful star overhead when dark night is over your road. When you are alone it will sit by your side and whisper in your ear.

Beautiful words from Tagore, don't you think? If you are interested in premiering the piece, please contact me at steve [at] stevedanyew [dot] com. Thanks!

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Recap: A Song of Singing Premiere

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I didn't get sun burned! (I wasn't in the sun very much... alas.) I had a wonderful visit to Delray Beach, FL from November 30 - December 4. I was in Florida for the premiere of A Song of Singing, which was commissioned by the Delray Beach Chorale (DBC) in celebration of their 30th anniversary season.

The dress rehearsal on Tuesday night (Nov. 30th) was the first time the choir had rehearsed with a 9-piece brass and percussion ensemble that would perform with them that weekend.  The size of the church, power of the brass, and arrangement on the stage made balance a little tricky, but the DBC director Eric Keiper did a great job harnessing the brass and bringing the choir to the fore.  He even brought a beautiful red rug to the performance, laying it down in front of the brass which helped absorb a bit of their powerful sound!

Between Tuesday (dress rehearsal) and Saturday (performance) I was hosted by a wonderful choir member and her husband, and was treated to great food, weather, and conversation.  On Wednesday evening I had a lovely dinner with Eric and two members of the DBC board.  It was really interesting to learn about the history of the choir and hear all their great ideas for the future - this is a group to watch!

Friday evening I had dinner with a board member and another singer in the group, and was fortunate enough to attend a brilliant concert by the Delray String Quartet.  They played a wonderful program of music in a beautiful venue in Fort Lauderdale, and played with fantastic sensitivity.  It was really a pleasure to hear them - I only wish more people had been there to appreciate some great music-making.

Saturday was a great day - we took some pictures prior to the performance in the afternoon, touched some spots in my piece and others, and began the concert at 3pm.  It was a wonderful performance on many levels.

First, I think there were about 400 people in attendance!  Second, it was an ambitious program of music that really showed many different sides of the choir and all the instrumentalists involved.

Third, the performance had a great energy and excitement that doesn't always happen.  Sometimes the dress rehearsal will have that extra edge and energy, followed by a performance that seems lackluster.  But in this case, the performance really kicked it up a notch.

My piece in particular sounded fun - which is exactly what I wanted.  I wrote the piece hoping that it would be fun for everyone involved - the choir, the director, the brass, the timpani, the piano!  I wasn't entirely sure how the audience would react to the piece (I guess because I was thinking so much more about the performers, in this case) but they loved it!

I was honored to be a part of this significant anniversary for the DBC and I look forward to following their next 30 years of singing!

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Lauda at KMEA in February

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I announced a few weeks ago that Lauda will be performed at the Kansas Music Educators Association Workshop in February 2012 in Wichita, KS by the Bethel College Wind Ensemble, under the direction of my good friend Timothy Shade.  Here is an article in the Bethel College News with some more information on the program.  I will be at KMEA for the performance - hope to see you there!

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Florida, Here I Come!

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It's been a couple of years since I was in the Sunshine State, but I'm coming back tomorrow! I will be in Delray Beach for the Delray Beach Chorale dress rehearsal tomorrow night, and the premiere of "A Song of Singing" on Saturday December 3rd.  Concert info here.

I'm very excited - it will be great to hear this wonderful group of singers perform a really fantastic program of music. I'm honored to have been asked to write a new work in celebration of their 30th anniversary!  The piece is joyus, big, and hopefully fun for everyone involved!

Other recent news:

  • Goodnight, Goodnight was chosen to be presented in the ACDA Eastern Division Conference Reading Session at the Convention in February.
  • Lauda will be performed by the Bethel College Wind Ensemble at the Kansas Music Educators Association’s In-Service Workshop next spring in Wichita, KS.  The Bethel Wind Ensemble recently performed the work on November 20th, and will perform the piece again at KMEA in February.  Congrats to Timothy Shade and the ensemble who were one of three ensembles chosen out of 66 Kansas ensembles - wow!

Recent/Upcoming Performances

It has been a busy autumn season with a lot of exciting events and projects! Here is a list of recent and upcoming performances:

September 26, 2011 – Premiere of Distant Moons Eastman Wind Ensemble, Mark Scatterday, Director.  Rochester, NY.

September 30, 2011 – Premiere of Star Spangled Banner arrangement Idaho State Civic Symphony, Chung Park, Directory.  Pocatello, ID.

October 23, 2011 – Premiere of Once More, My Soul First Congregational Church Sanctuary Choir. Westminster, MA

October 25 – Hers Was a Beautiful Soul Thad Anderson, marimba. UCF Rehearsal Hall Auditorium, Orlando, FL

October 29, 2011 – An Hour of Hallowed Peace Freudig Singers. Buffalo, NY.

October 30, 2011 – Hers Was a Beautiful Soul Thad Anderson, marimba. Casa Feliz Museum, Winter Park, FL

November 3, 2011 – Flash Black Keene State College Concert Band, Jim Cheesebrough, Director.  Keene, NH.

November 20, 2011  – Lauda, Mov. I. Bethel College Wind Ensemble, Timothy Shade, Director.  Newton, KS.

December 3, 2011 – Premiere of A Song of Singing Delray Beach Chorale, Eric Keiper, Director.  Delray Beach, FL.

My Song

Below is a text I found a couple of months ago.  I'm working on a few preliminary ideas, but I'm still not even sure what the instrumentation will be.  Might be SATB choir unaccompanied, but not entirely sure yet.  Anyway, the text is beautiful and I'm looking forward to working on it: My Song

This song of mine will wind its music around you, my child, like the fond arms of love. This song of mine will touch your forehead like a kiss of blessing.

When you are alone it will sit by your side and whisper in your ear, when you are in the crowd it will fence you about with aloofness.

My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams, it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown. It will be like the faithful star overhead when dark night is over your road.

My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes, and will carry your sight into the heart of things. And when my voice is silent in death, my song will speak in your living heart.

-  Rabindranath Tagore