Abandon

SATB div./unacc. EDITOR’S CHOICE, J.W. Pepper; US Publisher: Walton Music; Duration 5.5 minutes. NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER Sculptor, Auguste Rodin (creator of The Thinker and The Burghers of Calais)  still stands, as one of the greatest sculptors in history.  A young French sculptor, Camille Claudel – a genius in her own right – began working in […]

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All My Heart This Night Rejoices

SATBdiv./unacc.; U.S. Publisher, Colla Voce 48-96750; Duration 5 minutes TEXT The text – originally in German by poet Paul Gerhardt – was translated into English by Catherine Winkworth. All my heart, all this night rejoices, As I hear, far and near, sweetest angel voices, “Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo!” All the air, and everywhere, “Gloria!”

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All So Still

SATB/unacc. US Publisher: Mark Foster Music #540; Duration 2:40 COMPOSER NOTES The original title appears to have been I syng of a Mayden or As Dew in Aprille. This 15th century carol was popular in its day, although only the words now survive. I chose to use the modern English. However, it is interesting to […]

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SSATB/opt Piano; Editor’s Choice, J.W. Pepper; (also available in TTBB and Solo version (high voice); Garcilaso de la Vega, poet; U.S. Publisher, Walton Music – WJMS 1025 (SATB version); Duration 6.5 minutes COMPOSER NOTES The text is by Garcilaso de la Vega (1501-1536), Spanish Golden Age poet. he was a vivid example of a “Renaissance” person […]

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And Sure Stars Shining …

SATB/piano (also available for SSA/pno); Editor’s Choice, J.W. Pepper; Sara Teasdale, poetess; U.S> Publisher, Alliance Music Publ 1085; Duration 5 minutes. COMPOSER NOTES I have set prose, poetry, quotes, and other writings of over 120 literary “giants” throughout my compositional career. Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) stands as one of the two or three writers whom I most […]

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Canto Que Amabas

SSATB unacc.; also for SSAA/piano; Gabriela Mistral, poetess; US Publisher, Alliance Music; AMP #1115; Duration 6 min COMPOSER’S NOTES Poetess Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, known by her pseudonym “Gabriela Mistral,” was a Chilean diplomat and major literary figure. Born in 1889, she began her career as an elementary and secondary teacher. She later played an important […]

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Caritas et Amor

SSATBB/unacc; U.S.pubisher Alliance Music Publ. #0500; Duration 4.5 minutes   COMPOSER NOTES The Latin text, “Caritas et amor,” translates “Charity and Love.” The complete statement, then, is where charity and love exist, God is there. This work was commissioned by Northwest Missouri State University, Stephen Town, Choral Conductor. I wrote this work with frequent references […]

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Carmina Pax

Carmina Pax   Publisher:  www.zrstroope.com 30-minute choral/orchestral work in seven movements, each encountering a different aspect of conflict and peace. Premiered by the Arlington Master Chorale in Arlington, Texas; performance at Carnegie Hall  with the composer conducting; concert by the Master Singers of Eau Claire, Wisconsin (Gary Schwartzhoff, conductor); among many others in the United […]

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Christi Mutter (Stabat Mater)

SSATB unacc. (This work is often staged. See YouTube for examples.); Text anon.; U.S> Publisher – this website; Duration 4.5 minutes. COMPOSER NOTES The text authorship of CHRISTI MUTTER (Stabat Mater) is unresolved. But what is clear is the unmatched tenderness and profound sadness of a mother watching her son die on a cross. This […]

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Cloths of Heaven, The

SATB/piano (also available in TTBB/piano); William Butler Yeats, poet; U.S. Publisher, Colla Voce 45-21062 (SATB); Duration: 4 minutes COMPOSER NOTES This was one of the first works that I published, and it remains one of the most popular to this day. The text is by Irish poet and dramatist, William Butler Yeats (d. 1939), who […]

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