When He Returns

SKU: GI.G-9516

UPC: 785147951605. English. Text by Isaac Watts.

Written for organ, choir and assembly, this setting of ROCKINGHAM begins at a moderate pace in four parts. The a cappella writing for the third stanza slows down and moves to the relative minor, effectively portraying the gravity of the text. The piece returns to the original key and tempo for the final stanza by unison voices with descant. Hear a preview of this song and follow along with this score in this video:.

SKU: LO.20-1950L

ISBN 9780787754648.

Perfect for any worship service, this hymn of praise received an upbeat and energetic treatment by Terry Osman. The syncopated introduction returns as a transition between each statement of the hymn tune, and all ringers get to share in the melodic material!

SKU: CF.CPS240F

ISBN 9781491157879. UPC: 680160916474. 9 x 12 inches.

Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, itas like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it's like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through. As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country. The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape. The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix. Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion. Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.
Composing this piece was an interesting process. A piece of a melody or an idea takes shape, and after writing it down, it’s like planting a seed that starts to grow and develop. I got a snippet of a western idea and then thought of a monument in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.  The statue is called Madonna of the Trail. The history part of this piece started to take shape as I researched this statue. There are twelve of them located in twelve states where the Old Trail Road, or National Road, passes through.  As the piece developed, I started to think about the travel of a pioneer woman and her family passing through various areas of our early country.  The 3,000 mile coast-to-coast National road was realized in the early 1900s but was based on six trails that date back to the 1700s. After developing the introduction and theme to this concert band piece, the story began to take shape.  The slower 3/4 section melody hints at Greensleeves (What Child Is This) which appropriately weaves itself into the mix.  Finally heading further west into New Mexico, Arizona, and California, the melody takes on a Spanish flavor and returns to the main theme before its conclusion.  Divisi parts that are optional can be utilized to add a richer sound. Feel free to experiment with octave changes in the woodwinds in the fuller sections, if students are comfortable playing up an octave. Always be aware of the musicality, blend, and especially legato playing when required.

SKU: CF.YPS217F

ISBN 9781491156551. UPC: 680160915095. 9 x 12 inches.

Hope Remains Within was commissioned by and composed for the Mount Nittany Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Concert Bands. Having heard the students of Mount Nittany perform another work of mine, I was very excited when their director, Johanna Steinbacher, approached me about writing a piece specifically for them. I knew right away that I wanted to write something that would tie in with their non-music curriculum in some way, but I wasn't exactly sure how, or what. Johanna talked to some of her students and learned that, in 7th grade, the students spend a good deal of time studying mythology in their English class. In particular, two clarinet students mentioned how much they enjoyed the story of Pandora. As such, I decided to use that story as the basis of this composition. Hope Remains Within doesn't attempt to re-tell the story, event by event, in musical terms. Instead, my goal was to address what seems to be one of the central issues of the Pandora myth. Though there are some variations, we probably all know the basics as told by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. Zeus decides to punish Prometheus for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to humans. He and the other gods create Pandora, a beautiful and deceitful woman, and they give her to Prometheus's brother Epimetheus as a bride. Pandora is herself given a jar (according to many sources, jar seems to be a more accurate translation for what we commonly call Pandora's box) which contained numerous evils, diseases, and other pains. Out of curiosity, Pandora opens the jar and releases all of these evils into the world. But one thing remains in the jar: hope. The issue of hope seems to be one of the big interpretive questions of the Pandora myth. Why does hope remain within the jar? Why doesn't it come out of the jar to help humanity? Is hope being held on a pedestal of some sort? Is hope deliberately withheld from humanity? Why was hope in the jar with all those evils in the first place? I'm not enough of a mythological scholar to claim to have definitive answers to those questions, but these are the questions that I've tried to engage from a musical perspective in Hope Remains Within. I encourage the students and listeners to consider their own ideas of what hope is, and where you can find your own hope when needed. Musically, Hope Remains Within draws one of its main themes from the Prometheus Symphony by Alexander Skryabin (Scriabin). The note sequence F-D-Gb -F, heard near Hope's beginning played by alto saxophones and chimes, comes from the opening measures of Skyrabin's work. Given the important role that Prometheus plays in the Pandora myth, this seemed like an appropriate musical gesture to quote. This Prometheus motive is varied throughout the course of the piece, and even provides closure at the end, recast in a major key. Additionally, I have tried to involve a manageable amount of chromaticism in this piece. I have worked from the key of Bb major, no doubt familiar to every student who has ever played an instrument in a band. But I have added three extra notes: Db, Gb, and Ab, which are drawn from the key of Bb minor. During the piece's slow opening, I have allowed these minor key pitches to mingle freely within the Bb major tonality, adding extra color and (I hope!) beauty. As the piece progresses, though, the tempo increases, and we lose sense of the Bb major key entirely, and these extra notes play a more important role. But finally, Bb major returns triumphantly and all the extra notes are gone, except for a brief memory near the very end. (Ok, there are a couple of E-naturals that sneak in there along the way. I couldn't resist.).
Hope Remains Within was commissioned by and composed for the Mount Nittany Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Concert Bands. Having heard the students of Mount Nittany perform another work of mine, I was very excited when their director, Johanna Steinbacher, approached me about writing a piece specifically for them. I knew right away that I wanted to write something that would tie in with their non-music curriculum in some way, but I wasn’t exactly sure how, or what. Johanna talked to some of her students and learned that, in 7th grade, the students spend a good deal of time studying mythology in their English class. In particular, two clarinet students mentioned how much they enjoyed the story of Pandora.As such, I decided to use that story as the basis of this composition. Hope Remains Within doesn’t attempt to re-tell the story, event by event, in musical terms. Instead, my goal was to address what seems to be one of the central issues of the Pandora myth. Though there are some variations, we probably all know the basics as told by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod. Zeus decides to punish Prometheus for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to humans. He and the other gods create Pandora, a beautiful and deceitful woman, and they give her to Prometheus’s brother Epimetheus as a bride. Pandora is herself given a jar (according to many sources, “jar” seems to be a more accurate translation for what we commonly call “Pandora’s box”) which contained numerous evils, diseases, and other pains. Out of curiosity, Pandora opens the jar and releases all of these evils into the world. But one thing remains in the jar: hope.The issue of hope seems to be one of the big interpretive questions of the Pandora myth. Why does hope remain within the jar? Why doesn’t it come out of the jar to help humanity? Is hope being held on a pedestal of some sort? Is hope deliberately withheld from humanity? Why was hope in the jar with all those evils in the first place?I’m not enough of a mythological scholar to claim to have definitive answers to those questions, but these are the questions that I’ve tried to engage from a musical perspective in Hope Remains Within. I encourage the students and listeners to consider their own ideas of what hope is, and where you can find your own hope when needed.Musically, Hope Remains Within draws one of its main themes from the Prometheus Symphony by Alexander Skryabin (Scriabin). The note sequence F-D-Gb -F, heard near Hope’s beginning played by alto saxophones and chimes, comes from the opening measures of Skyrabin’s work. Given the important role that Prometheus plays in the Pandora myth, this seemed like an appropriate musical gesture to quote. This Prometheus motive is varied throughout the course of the piece, and even provides closure at the end, recast in a major key.Additionally, I have tried to involve a manageable amount of chromaticism in this piece. I have worked from the key of Bb major, no doubt familiar to every student who has ever played an instrument in a band. But I have added three extra notes: Db, Gb, and Ab, which are drawn from the key of Bb minor. During the piece’s slow opening, I have allowed these minor key pitches to mingle freely within the Bb major tonality, adding extra color and (I hope!) beauty. As the piece progresses, though, the tempo increases, and we lose sense of the Bb major key entirely, and these extra notes play a more important role. But finally, Bb major returns triumphantly and all the extra notes are gone, except for a brief memory near the very end. (Ok, there are a couple of E-naturals that sneak in there along the way. I couldn’t resist.).

SKU: CF.CPS243

ISBN 9781491158500. UPC: 680160917105. 9 x 12 inches.

This setting of The First Noel begins with a percussion intro and dissonant chords that lead to a beautiful flute duet. The melody is freely adapted and at times, outright changed, to give this arrangement a very different sound. Using rhythmic motives, tone clusters, altered melodies and all the sounds available for a concert band, the piece takes the audience on a journey that leads to a statement of the original tune at m. 118. Everyone gets the melody at some point. After a chorale-like section, the composition returns to the fast and upbeat sounds of the beginning. Your musicians and audience will love this unique version of this old-time favorite. When performing this piece, start dark and mysterious and let the sounds crescendo through the introduction all the way to m. 21, the first statement of the hymn. Make sure you keep the tempo moving so the arrangement does not lose excitement. Keep the flute duet, and later the trumpet duet, nice and light. At m. 118, play a little slower and in a standard chorale style, being careful to let the flute and oboe voices be heard. Let the low voices have the reins at m. 126 as they play the melody. Pick the tempo back up to the original tempo at m. 145 and push to the end. The main thing is to match articulation throughout the band--at the beginning and at the end, think light accents and separation, and at the chorale section at m. 118, more legato. Keeping everyone on the same page with articulation will be the key to making a great performance.
This setting of The First Noel begins with a percussion intro and dissonant chords that lead to a beautiful flute duet. The melody is freely adapted and at times, outright changed, to give this arrangement a very different sound. Using rhythmic motives, tone clusters, altered melodies and all the sounds available for a concert band, the piece takes the audience on a journey that leads to a statement of the original tune at m. 118. Everyone gets the melody at some point. After a chorale-like section, the composition returns to the fast and upbeat sounds of the beginning. Your musicians and audience will love this unique version of this old-time favorite.When performing this piece, start dark and mysterious and let the sounds crescendo through the introduction all the way to m. 21, the first statement of the hymn. Make sure you keep the tempo moving so the arrangement does not lose excitement. Keep the flute duet, and later the trumpet duet,nice and light. At m. 118, play a little slower and in a standard chorale style, being careful to let the flute and oboe voices be heard. Let the low voices have the reins at m. 126 as they play the melody. Pick the tempo back up to the original tempo at m. 145 and push to the end. The main thing is to matcharticulation throughout the band--at the beginning and at the end, think light accents and separation, and at the chorale section at m. 118, more legato. Keeping everyone on the same page with articulation will be the key to making a great performance.

SKU: PR.114410380

UPC: 680160015160. 9.5 x 13 inches.

My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978. The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond. I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so. The Second Quartet is in four movements: Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement. An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work. While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work's intended emotional impact. The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness. The second movement's scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery. The third movement's Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others - but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts. The final movement's attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major. The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.
My second String Quartet was written twenty years after the first, Opus 4 from 1978.  The First Quartet is an obsessively contrapuntal work in one movement, which was no doubt influenced by my studies with David Diamond.  I had always intended to return to the medium once I left the astringency of my earlier style, but it was only when the National Federation of Music Clubs commissioned a major chamber work, with unspecified instrumentation, to celebrate their 100th Anniversary that I was enabled to do so.The Second Quartet is in four movements:  Moderato, Allegro isterico, an Andante theme with 11 variations, and the closing Allegro, which then returns to the tempo of the first movement.An audience member at the premiere told me that she heard echoes of recent tragic events such as the Oklahoma bombing in this work.  While I had no such programmatic intent while writing the quartet, it was not an entirely incorrect assessment of the work’s intended emotional impact.  The quartet is pervaded by a sense of seriousness, even mournfulness.  The second movement’s scherzo is an aggressively animated piece of musical machinery.  The third movement’s Variations unfold into a greater variety of moods than the others – but the moments of lyricism are countered by aggressive or ironic outbursts.  The final movement’s attempt at triumph quickly subsides into a return of the first movement, before being transformed onto a sense of resignation and acceptance as the chromaticism of the opening theme is transformed into a pure and diatonic C-Major.The work received its world premiere by the Shanghai Quartet at the 100th Anniversary Congress of the National Federation of Music Clubs at the Congress Hotel in Chicago on August 19th 1998.

SKU: CF.CPS239F

ISBN 9781491157848. UPC: 680160916443. 9 x 12 inches.

The energy and drive of this piece uses simple time signatures of 4/4 and 3/4 and mixes groups of three notes and syncopation to the rhythm and the melody. There is also a use of a musical term called hemiola, when groups of two beats are replaced by groups of three beats, creating a shift between duple and triple meter. Syncopation adds a modern, jazzy, popular feel to this exciting concert band composition. Along with syncopation and popular influences are countermelodies to the main theme that are as important as the melody for balance and blend. This adds a feeling of baroque or renaissance style to the texture. Yet the melodies, chords, and structure are recognizable and enjoyable to listen to and perform. The middle 3/4 section is slightly slower featuring brass and saxophones and played legato. Then at the key change, it becomes more articulate and contrapuntal. The a tempo at m. 88 returns to the original thematic material, differing slightly from the beginning, and the coda has some added technical and challenging woodwind passages. The cymbal/triangle part has a lot of directions on choking, hi-hat sound, etc., that will add nice color to the piece if performed as indicated.
The energy and drive of this piece uses simple time signatures of 4/4 and 3/4 and mixes groups of three notes and syncopation to the rhythm and the melody. There is also a use of a musical term called hemiola, when groups of two beats are replaced by groups of three beats, creating a shift between duple and triple meter.  Syncopation adds a modern, jazzy, popular feel to this exciting concert band composition.Along with syncopation and popular influences are countermelodies to the main theme that are as important as the melody for balance and blend.  This adds a feeling of baroque or renaissance style to the texture. Yet the melodies, chords, and structure are recognizable and enjoyable to listen to and perform.  The middle 3/4 section is slightly slower featuring brass and saxophones and played legato. Then at the key change, it becomes more articulate and contrapuntal.  The a tempo at m. 88 returns to the original thematic material, differing slightly from the beginning, and the coda has some added technical and challenging woodwind passages. The cymbal/triangle part has a lot of directions on choking, hi-hat sound, etc., that will add nice color to the piece if performed as indicated.