My new arrangement of Before The Throne Of God Above is now available from Soundforth. The octavo is in print (call them or email; it’s not on their website yet), and the recording for which it was written (A Quiet Heart) is now available as well.
Other arrangements of it have been in print for quite some time, but they all were “screechy”, to use the vernacular. (We’re talking sopranos hanging out above the staff for several bars at a time!) Soundforth specifically asked me (last summer) to write a setting that would be reflective instead of “screaming.”
The print version is SATB with piano, and not very difficult. The orchestration simply adds easy string orchestra parts to the piano part- it should be very useable for even small church orchestras with strings.
Current events:
Heading up to Blue Springs, MO, to judge at the MAACS competition for the next couple days…
Studying day and night for doctoral comprehensive exams (April 14) and oral exams (April 25)
Revising “You Are The Music” (SATB choir, soprano solo, horn, and piano)
Revising A Basque Lullaby (Concert Band version) after hearing the first read-through, getting ready for an April premiere in Greenville, SC.
Have been proofing Nearer Still Nearer (Beckenhorst, in April) and The Fruit Of The Spirit (Chorister’s Guild, this fall)
Gathering ideas for Arise Shine (Carnegie Hall, Feb 2007) and trying not to settle for anything less than inspired (difficult work indeed!)
If I can pass my orals and comps, I’ll be rid of all extraneous work, and be All But Dissertation as of May 15. Then I can get to work on a massive to-do list of composing!
Several more pictures from our time in St Louis…the rest of the week went great, and we had a ball. We heard some stunning choirs, and met lots of great people.
Here’s me with Gene Brooks (President of ACDA) and Steven Brooks who awarded me the prize before the premiere…
Here’s me and Mark Hayes- he took us out to lunch at a great little Italian place. We had a really nice time with him…
Here’s me with Sid Davis and Mitzi Groom- old friends from Alice Parker’s workshop that I hadn’t seen in several years. Sid has a piece published with Beckenhorst, is a music director in a huge church in Houston, and is proud of his son Taylor who has written several of Chorister’s Guild’s best sellers in the last couple years. Mitzi is a dear lady who I saw weep at the power of improvisational singing around Alice’s table- a moment I’ve never forgotten…
Lastly, what trip to St Louis would be complete without a desktop picture of the Arch?
We’re having a great time in St Louis, even though it’s rainy. We’ve heard some fine choral groups and met a lot of great people. The Houston Baptist Schola Cantorum finally “premiered” Selah today, and I received my Raymond Brock prize. (This picture is me and Roberta Van Ness, president of Hinshaw Music.)
The Cantorum did a great job, especially for only 20 singers, in a hall that wasn’t very acoustically helpful.
Most exciting, however, was the response to Selah’s premiere… (more…)
Another super day of being inspired by being around Morton Lauridsen. What a gracious and inspiring man. I spent a couple hours with the KU Choral GTAs as he explained his various song cycles to us. The best part of the day was taking him out to eat with Brian Bondari and his fiancee. We had a private booth for the five of us, and had a great time chatting.
The two most interesting things he said today were… (more…)
