SKU: MN.CH-1299

Witness For The Fallen was written March of 2002, shortly after the tragedy of 9/11. Mr. Kulis was in the process of writing a piece for The Gregg Smith Singers for their annual composers reading in Saranac Lake, New York. In November of 2001 Mr. Kulis close friend, James Whelan, gave him a text in which Mr. Whelan wrote down his reactions to the incidents of 9/11. Mr. Whelan had witnessed so much of what happened that day from an office in a building near Grand Central Station. Initially, Mr. Kulis had no intention of using the text for the compositions he was writing. However, he found himself coming back to the text time after time while writing and ultimately made the decision to use the text. The music he wrote is tonal and straightforward. The opening section is underlined by an F major chord sung by sopranos and altos with a simple melodic line sung by the tenors. The harmony is full of fourths, major sevenths and ninths. It has a distinctly American sound. Witness For The Fallen was recorded and released by the Gregg Smith Singers in 2007.

SKU: HL.35028368

UPC: 884088651671. 5.25x7.5 inches. Joseph M. Martin.

Uses: Advent, Christmas

Scripture: Luke 2

From the composer of Tapestry of Light and The Winter Rose comes a new major work that is based on the traditional “Lesson and Carols” service. Filled to overflowing with beloved carols and original seasonal songs, this cantata tells the story of Christ's birth adorned with beautiful arrangements and meaningful Scriptures. The work includes optional moments for congregational participation, handbell ringers, and children's choir, if desired. Stunning orchestrations and a full line of support products are available to support your presentation. Titles include: A Christmas Overture; O Come, All Ye Faithful; A Prayer for Advent; People of Promise, Arise!; Song of Hope and Joy; O Little Town of Bethlehem; My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord; Lullabies of Bethlehem; Angels We Have Heard on High; Carols for Seekers; Let Christmas Begin; A Christmas Trilogy. Available separately: SATB, SAB, iPrint Orch CD-rom, Printed Orchestration, iPrint Consort Orch CD-rom, iPrint Handbells CD-rom, StudioTrax CD, Listening CD, 10-Pack Listening CDs, Preview Pack, RehearsalTrax CDs, Digital Resource Kit (Power Point, Poster/Program PDFs, Rehearsal Tips, Choir Devotionals, Children's Program, Composer Bios). Duration: ca. 59:21 (full performance) or ca. 48:37 (w/o opt. congregational anthems).

SKU: PR.140401340

ISBN 9781491134450. UPC: 680160684953.

Best known for his settings of spirituals and influence on Dvorák, Henry T. Burleigh was a celebrated baritone, and a prolific composer of original works. FROM THE SOUTHLAND is a suite of six atmospheric scenes of the American south, inspired by Black musical and cultural traditions. FROM THE SOUTHLAND is within reach of intermediate pianists and artistically suited for professional recitals.
In 1835, Henry T. Burleigh’s maternal grandfather purchased his own release from slavery for the sum of $50, and traveled north out of Maryland to begin a new life as a free man. He established his family in Ithaca, NY, and then moved to the bustling lakefront city of Erie, PA, where three decades later his grandson Henry would be born and raised.For Burleigh, the “Southland” that inspired this collection of piano sketches was a distant place that could not have been more different from the physical world he knew, up there in the northern snowbelt. And yet these southern landscapes and vignettes must have been intensely present in his consciousness, absorbed through the stories and songs he first learned at his grandfather’s knee.The music of the South – the spirituals and work songs he heard as a child –would travel with Burleigh throughout his long and illustrious musical life. Even as he progressed through his early classical training, his career as a baritone soloist in Erie’s churches and synagogue, his move to New York to study at the National Conservatory of Music, and his rise to national prominence as a concert soloist, these ancestral melodies stayed firmly centered in his musical identity.When he wrote From the Southland, his only composition for solo piano, Burleigh was just beginning his career as a composer. The art songs that would establish him as one of America’s best known composers in the genre were still to come. And so were his iconic arrangements of spirituals that would bring the songs of slavery onto concert stages around the world, transformed into timeless and uniquely American music.These little piano sketches bring together all the things that made Burleigh the musician he was – the lush, late-romantic style of his time; a broad vision for American music; and a profound respect for his heritage, a memory of the world his grandfather left behind, and a love of the music he brought with him.