2009, March
SBO Staff • ChoralMarch 2009New Products • March 24, 2009
2009, March
Oxford University Press Aesop’s Fables
This new choral work by Bob Chilcott sets five of Aesop’s famous fables to a musical setting: “The Hare and the Tortoise;” “The Mountain in Labour;” The Fox and the Grapes;” The North Wind and the Sun;” and “The Goose and the Swan.” This is a suitable concert work for all mixed-voice choirs.
Gregorian Chant from Gia Music
Dr. Theodore Marier was a world-renowned scholar, composer and teacher of the Solesmes method of Gregorian chant. His posthumously published book, A Gregorian Chant Master Class, provides information in a concise volume for anyone wishing to learn the chant. This edition includes a textbook and CD outlining 10 fundamental points of style distilled by Marier from his teaching experience and explained in his own voice.
These 10 instructions are accompanied by supplementary explanations and sung examples. Together, the book and companion CD offer a method of instruction designed for choir directors, teachers, and individual students. Other features include a chart of all the neumes and musical symbols most commonly used in Gregorian chant notation, a step-by-step process for determining rhythm, a selection of chant pieces for further study, and musical examples. The accompanying CD features the voices of the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey and the Stamford Schola Gregoriana, conducted by Scott Turkington.
New Releases From Sher Music
The Jazz Singer’s Guidebook: A Course in Jazz Harmony and Scat Singing for the Serious Vocalist by David Berkman offers a step-by-step approach for serious singers who want to improve their grasp of jazz harmony and gain control of the music they are singing. The Guidebook covers chord tones and tension notes on the chords found in standard tunes, how to use chord scales, chromatic embellishments and guide tones to make up melody variations and scat solos. This 142 page book also comes with an accompanying CD.
The “Real Easy” Ear Training Book: A Beginning/Intermediate Guide to Hearing the Chord Change, by Roberta Radley, co-chair of Ear Training department at Berklee College of Music, is a practical guide for all musicians, regardless of instrument or experience.
Using musical examples from all contemporary genres (pop, rock, jazz, Latin, et cetera.), Professor Radley shows how to apply the harmonic ear training exercises in the book to your own musical needs. The book offers step-by-step instructions on how to hear the bass (root movement) in a major key, identify major and minor diatonic triads, identify 7th chords, minor key harmony, and non-diatonic chord patterns. The book contains 168 pages of text and two audio CDs.
New Releases from Shawnee Press
Shawnee Press has released new sheet music for choral groups. “American Pride,” words and music written by Jill Gallina, is available for SATB voicing, SAB voicing, and two-part voicing. A recording of the piece can be found on the Studio Trax CD. “Here’s That Rainy Day,” with lyrics by Johnny Burke, music by Jimmy Van Heusen, and arranged by Darmon Meader, is available for SATB voicing, guitar, bass, and drum parts, also available on CD. “Think on Me,” words and music by Alicia Ann Scott (1810-1900) and arranged by Greg Gilpin, is available for SATB voicing, SAB voicing, two-part (opt. SSA) voicing. It can be heard on the Piano Trax CD.
President Obama’s Inaugural Music from Hal Leonard
Hal Leonard has released, three inspirational songs associated with the recut Presidential election: “If You’re Out There,” “The American Song,” and “Air and Simple Gifts.”
Obama’s presidential campaign inspired singer-songwriter John Legend to write “If You’re Out There.” He performed it live during the Democratic National Convention in Denver backed by the Agape International Choir, and also as a duet with Colombian sensation Juanes at last fall’s Latin Grammy Awards. Hal Leonard has made the song available online and in its Pop Choral series, with Mark Brymer arrangements for SATB, SAB, and two-part voicings, with a Showtrax CD.
In honor of Obama, producer and newly minted American citizen David Foster collaborated with will.i.am, hip-hop mogul and former frontman for the Black Eyed Peas, on “The American Song.” Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, and Faith Hill contributed vocals to the inspiring ballad. A PVG download is selling well at SheetMusicDirect.com, and Mac Huff has arranged the song for SATB, SAB and two-part voicings; octavos are exclusively available from Hal Leonard
Classical luminaries Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Itzhak Perlman (violin) joined Metropolitan Opera clarinetist Anthony McGill and Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero to perform “Air and Simple Gifts,” a new piece which esteemed composer John Williams created by bookending an “exuberant rendering” of Aaron Copland’s “Simple Gifts.” Hal Leonard will sell an authentic version of this piece in its popular John Williams Signature Series, and also present a commemorative edition to the president and the four performers, with a personal letter from Williams.
