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 as well.  See YouTube for examples) 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 movement features three “characters,” beginning with the mother (“Christi Mutter!”) […]

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Danse Macabre

SATB/piano  – Walton Music Fall 2023 French; very fast-paced, high energy work.  Show piece for both the chorus and virtuosic pianist.   “Tap, tap tap – Death rhythmically taps a tomb with his heel… white skeletons flit across the gloom, running and leaping in playful glee until sunrise.  Then, they rush back to their “earthly homes” […]

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SATB/Virtuoso Piano Collaborator (4 movements) Commissioned by the Music Teachers National Association (work that features the piano, “accompanied by choir”)  James Johnson, pianist Water lilies are not securely grounded. Rather, they are tossed by wind, pounded by rain, and their large, leathery floating leaves wither in dry seasons. Still, water lilies survive. They manage to return year after […]

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Judaskuss (Kiss of Judas)

“JUDASKUSS” (The Kiss of Judas). Judas “explains” why he felt forced to betray Jesus –  “I was just fulfilling the scriptures. He [Jesus] urged me to do it, so I had to go. [When the soldiers came], I kissed him. They seized him and dragged Jesus off.  He died for you on the cross, and […]

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Kyrie

SATB/unacc.; written for Dr. Gary Schwartzhoff  and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; built on tritones, this work has an intense sense of yearning and human longing to find an anchor of peace. THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD pdf;  feel free to make as many copies as needed.

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SPECTRA (Nature’s Eternal Sunrise) SATB/orchestra or SATB/wind ensemble (band); 4’35” Premiered 2019 “Fountains of life! Eternal sunrise! Radiant white beams of light, And prisms on the crystal rocks. Mountains and prairies, The meadows and valleys, Flush of alpenglow, All nature rejoices! Snow is melting is music, singing stream bankfull of melodies rising with rhythm of […]

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