The Peace Within

SKU: CF.CM9495

ISBN 9781491145999. UPC: 680160903498. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. Key: D major. Original.

Let All the Earth Unite in Peace conveys a message of universal hope and healing. The canonic melody is excellent for teaching unison singing, reinforcing part-singing, and developing solid choral tone all within the framework of accessible ranges. In both English and Latin, the Grant them peace response reinforces a message of peace, providing a hopeful element to any concert program.

SKU: AP.BD9705C

UPC: 029156273212. English.

Picture the towering majesty of mountains, wreathed in clouds at times, brilliant in sunshine at other times. The serene grandeur and beauty are testaments to peace within nature and within the soul of man. Douglas Wagner's overture for band presents an opportunity in performance to scale new heights in dramatic expression and allows all elements of the human spirit to focus on the beauty of sound. Captivating!

SKU: PR.312419280

ISBN 9781491137925. UPC: 680160692613.

Terra Nostra focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. The oratorio is divided into three parts:Part I: Creation of the World celebrates the birth and beauty of our planet. The oratorio begins with creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt that are integrated into the opening lines of Genesis from the Old Testament. The music surges forth from these creation stories into “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, which describes the world in exuberant and vivid detail. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “On thine own child” praises Mother Earth for her role bringing forth all life, while Walt Whitman sings a love song to the planet in “Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth!” Part I ends with “A Blade of Grass” in which Whitman muses how our planet has been spinning in the heavens for a very long time.Part II: The Rise of Humanity examines the achievements of mankind, particularly since the dawn of the Industrial Age. Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” sets an auspicious tone that mankind is on the verge of great discoveries. This is followed in short order by Charles Mackay’s “Railways 1846,” William Ernest Henley’s “A Song of Speed,” and John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s “High Flight,” each of which celebrates a new milestone in technological achievement. In “Binsey Poplars,” Gerard Manley Hopkins takes note of the effect that these advances are having on the planet, with trees being brought down and landscapes forever changed. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “A Dirge” concludes Part II with a warning that the planet is beginning to sound a grave alarm.Part III: Searching for Balance questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources. Three texts continue the earth’s plea that ended the previous section: Lord Byron’s “Darkness” speaks of a natural disaster (a volcano) that has blotted out the sun from humanity and the panic that ensues; contemporary poet Esther Iverem’s “Earth Screaming” gives voice to the modern issues of our changing climate; and William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much With Us” warns us that we are almost out of time to change our course. Contemporary/agrarian poet Wendell Berry’s “The Want of Peace” speaks to us at the climax of the oratorio, reminding us that we can find harmony with the planet if we choose to live more simply, and to recall that we ourselves came from the earth. Two Walt Whitman texts (“A Child said, What is the grass?” and “There was a child went forth every day”) echo Berry’s thoughts, reminding us that we are of the earth, as is everything that we see on our planet. The oratorio concludes with a reprise of Whitman’s “A Blade of Grass” from Part I, this time interspersed with an additional Whitman text that sublimely states, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love…”My hope in writing this oratorio is to invite audience members to consider how we interact with our planet, and what we can each personally do to keep the planet going for future generations. We are the only stewards Earth has; what can we each do to leave her in better shape than we found her?

SKU: AP.49930

ISBN 9781470662424. UPC: 038081579627. English.

Give your students a well-needed break from the chaos and noise of today's world with this gentle, introspective, hymn-like composition. Richard Meyer's A Quiet Peace uses suspensions, dissonances, and ninth and seventh chords, which lend a mature sound to the piece. The notes and ranges keep it well within reach of the young orchestra. An excellent way for your students to express sensitivity and grace while developing their emotive playing skills. (4:15) Correlates to Sound Innovations, Book 2, Level 2.

SKU: JK.00735

2 Nephi 25:23, 26, 29, Mormon 7:5-7.

Choral anthem for mixed chorus (SATB), flute obbligato and organ accompaniment (with sustained pedaling), sung as a prayer to guide us and grant us heavenly peace within. Flute obbligato part available separately (#09161).
Composer: William Bradbury
Lyricist: James L. Sorenson
Difficulty: Medium-easy
Performance time: 3:00
Reference: 2 Nephi 25:23, 26, 29, Mormon 7:5-7.

SKU: ST.W187

ISBN 9790220203305.

Anthony Caesar finds a moving text by the teenage Etonian, Oxford Movement influenced, Digby Mackworth Dolben (1848-1867), who died tragically young while swimming. Canon Caesar's anthem is a classic example of the Franciscan principle (observed by lamentably few composers) of true beauty springing from simplicity.

The text inspires a sort of post-Howells harmonic idiom, though with the choir's part kept remarkably simple. The most inspired moment comes when the opening progression, which sets the poignant tension of the first three verses, is subtly transformed into radiant certainty in the last verse: I asked for Thee- / And Thou didst come / To take me home / Within Thy Heart to be. Although the parts divide at times, this miniature classic is not too difficult for any well rehearsed four-part choir.