The Blue Bird poem by Mary Coleridge Music by Charles Villiers Stanford (also known under the pseudonym Karel Drofnatski!!) Performed (transposed down a bit) by the dwsChorale (one-man multitrack choir)

Performed by Singing OUT at A Sky Full of Stars on December 2, 2017. Based on Walt Whitman's poem Leaves of Grass, Composer: Rich Campbell

This composition is based on a text from Alice in Wonderland, which appeals to children and youth choirs directly. The poem has a clear structure (verse – chorus), and the vocal parts are kept straightforward. The striking piece contains some jazzy chords...  moreThis composition is based on a text from Alice in Wonderland, which appeals to children and youth choirs directly. The poem has a clear structure (verse – chorus), and the vocal parts are kept straightforward. The striking piece contains some jazzy chords and humorously unexpected twists. This work won the first prize in the 2013 Composition Competition of the European Choral Association in the frame of the festival Youth Choirs in Movement.  

A setting of a short love poem by Gertrude Stein, this brief piece is built on a round - and so can be learned quickly. It was a winning selection in the inaugural Pioneering Voices composition competition held by Mount Holyoke College. "delightful and...  moreA setting of a short love poem by Gertrude Stein, this brief piece is built on a round - and so can be learned quickly. It was a winning selection in the inaugural Pioneering Voices composition competition held by Mount Holyoke College. "delightful and whimsical....  the singers are really having fun with it." - Colin Britt  

PROGRAM NOTES: While reading James Weldon Johnson’s poem for the first time, I was immediately reminded of all the difficult times that music has helped me through. How I wrote the composition Hope to process a miscarriage, or how I wrote I Will Lift My...  morePROGRAM NOTES: While reading James Weldon Johnson’s poem for the first time, I was immediately reminded of all the difficult times that music has helped me through. How I wrote the composition Hope to process a miscarriage, or how I wrote I Will Lift My Eyes at a time when multiple family members, both young and old, were being diagnosed with cancer. No matter life’s challenges, music has always been an outlet for me to cope and heal. It has helped me to persevere and fight through some of life's most difficult moments, ultimately making me a stronger person. The world can be a challenging place, but each of us are warriors—armed with the gift to sing, and filled with the fire, passion, drive, and grit to conquer anything.  less

A setting for four equal voices of the parody by Rev George Strong on Longfellow's Hiawatha poem. The music is almost, but not quite, a canon... Versions are available in B flat mixolydian and in C mixolydian. (ie major with flattened 7th) When ...  moreA setting for four equal voices of the parody by Rev George Strong on Longfellow's Hiawatha poem. The music is almost, but not quite, a canon... Versions are available in B flat mixolydian and in C mixolydian. (ie major with flattened 7th) When he killed the Mudjokivis, Of the skin he made him mittens, Made them with the fur side inside, Made them with the skin side outside. He, to get the warm side inside, Put the inside skin side outside; He, to get the cold side outside, Put the warm side fur side inside. That's why he put the fur side inside, Why he put the skin side outside, Why he turned them inside outside  less

This is based on the anonymous English poem (with added 2nd verse by David Dunning) about a centipede who loses her concentration: Verse 1 A Centipede was happy quite Until a frog in fun said "Pray tell which leg comes after which?" (with a left r...  moreThis is based on the anonymous English poem (with added 2nd verse by David Dunning) about a centipede who loses her concentration: Verse 1 A Centipede was happy quite Until a frog in fun said "Pray tell which leg comes after which?" (with a left right right left right) This raised her mind to such a pitch she lay distracted in a ditch Considering how to run. Verse 2 She stopped and thought and, mystified, Soliloquized on this; Put right foot first and found it left Her left leg wrong right side This raised her mind to such a pitch she lay distracted in a ditch Considering how to run.  less

Music: © Copyright 2017 by Highgate Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group. www.ecspublishing.com All rights reserved. Words: from the Polish poem Zegar (The Clock) by Abramek Koplowicz. Translation by Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Korasze...  moreMusic: © Copyright 2017 by Highgate Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Group. www.ecspublishing.com All rights reserved. Words: from the Polish poem Zegar (The Clock) by Abramek Koplowicz. Translation by Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Koraszewska. © Copyright 1993 by Eliazer “Lolek” Grynfeld. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Eliazer “Lolek” Grynfeld, Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Koraszewska. Performance by the women of The Singers conducted by Mathew Culloton. Used by permission of ECS Publishing Group.  less

poem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Video: Ritvars Bluka Style: Līga Banga Live Performance at Latvian National Museum of Arts "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve c...  morepoem by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Video: Ritvars Bluka Style: Līga Banga Live Performance at Latvian National Museum of Arts "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air . . . Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew — And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. www.latvianvoices.lv  less

"Maid in the Moor" is a setting of a medieval poem. Written, filmed and edited by Michael McGlynn and performed by Anúna. From the DVD "Invocations of Ireland" and CD "Sensation". Soloist Aideen Rickard.