SKU: A0.1308788

*Purchase 10 copies to perform this piece with your ensemble of any size
*Purchase the instrumental pack (bass and drum part) here: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/beyond-the-sea-instrumental-pack-only-22605052.html

This arrangement came to me over a number of weeks in a very organic way that began with the ostinato piano figure that prevails throughout the piece. I began playing it unattached to any tune and I just liked the way the line descended in the left hand and how I had to find voicings in the right hand that made harmonic sense – like a puzzle. As I was playing around with this puzzle, thoughts of my father were swirling around in my head – I was at the end of a 4 year period of separation from my parents owing to the fact that I’m a Canadian expat living in the US and the borders were closed for a long time because of Covid, and then I had work visa issues and my parents were getting older before my eyes. They were also losing friends to cancer and other ailments and my dad, in particular, had experienced the loss of many close family members and friends during our separation and it was taking a toll.

 

One day I sat down and played the now familiar-to-me ostinato but randomly I started to sing “Beyond the Sea� over it and it fit perfectly. I thought it a happy coincidence. As the days went on I committed to putting my ostinato with Beyond the Sea and the lyrics started to seep into my brain. I have, of course, heard these lyrics many times before, (who hasn’t seen Finding Nemo?) but the lyrics didn’t mean what I thought they meant… They’re NOT about the ocean, they are about my dad!!! Well, kind of… I realized, through careful reflection and by slowing the words down, that the lyrics are talking about a person in heaven who is patiently waiting for their partner to join them.

 

Somewhere beyond the sea

She’s there watching for me

…

It’s far beyond the stars

It’s near beyond the moon

 

And the lyrics end with them meeting, “We’ll meet beyond the shore, we’ll kiss just like before,� and the song ends with: “and never again I’ll go sailing.� It’s like the big bang went off in my head about why all these thoughts of my dad, and his friends, and this arrangement, and what it all meant suddenly just MADE SENSE and I was able to start formulating a plan.

 

Performance Suggestions: 

The improvisation solo in the middle should be free of any traditional “scat syllables� and should be more of a lament. Listen to singers like Aubrey Johnson improvise on ballads for inspiration. An idea for that improv section might be to have a male singer start the improv, then a female singer joins (as if together in heaven) then they sing letter F together (warning: will cause tears…). All solo sections do not have to be sung as written – soloists can take liberties with the melody as the spirit moves.

SKU: A0.1262362

On the morning of 2 March 2020, I finished writing the first draft of this song. It was the same morning that the New South Wales Rural Fire Service announced that for the first time since July 2019, the state was free of active bush and grass fires.

At the time it felt quite euphoric. We’d been through a lot. Little did we know what was coming just a few days from then, when the Covid19 global pandemic reached our shores. It’s a virus that would kill millions across the world, and disable millions more, long term. It forced us, globally, into a kind of reckoning the like of which we had never experienced before. Non pharmaceutical controls like lockdowns, mask mandates, social distancing and ventilation standards were employed to keep us safe from this airborne virus, whilst scientists worked round clock to develop vaccines and treatments.

Technically, the declaration of a pandemic is still active, but governments and people have somehow decided for themselves that it is all over. No one takes any precautions any more. Governments have stopped reporting statistics. People who know they are infected are going about their business with no thought for others. Meanwhile, many of the immune-compromised, the disabled, the vulnerable, are unable to safely leave their homes and engage in activities out in the world. I know this, because I am a carer for a vulnerable person.

What this whole exercise has taught me is that people in the world are actually much less kind than I thought they were. Humans do not really care for each other. People attack me for wearing a mask, tell me that I’m virtue signalling and that I look ridiculous (as if I care how I look). I’ve asked questions about workplace Covid safety and been informed that it’s “a bit rich� that I’m asking at all, when everything is now safe. A friend’s diagnosed Long Covid symptoms were cruelly minimised or completely dismissed “Oh, it’s not Covid. How old are you? In your forties? It’s your hormones, it’s the menopause.� The fatal combination of sheer selfishness, rampant misinformation and DISinformation continues, whilst people waltz around spreading a deadly virus with no thought for the grief that will undoubtedly ensue.

It boils down to this: if we want to continue as a species and to have a planet on which to reside, we have to stop with the Self Care and start with the Community Care. A choir is the perfect instrument for expressing these notions, through the unique power of the massed first person plural. My wish for this piece is that it spurs performer and listener alike into some kind of action. Please consider the effect your actions have on others, and on the planet, and make any changes necessary, however inconvenient or difficult they are. Otherwise, there’s really no point.

Sally Whitwell 11 July 2023.

SKU: H1.C5938DP

Philippians 3:14.

Original anthem This dynamic Joel Raney blues-gospel anthem incorporates a hint of the nostalgic song Higher Ground, but soon a spirited gospel-groove takes over and the choir moves into an original melody. The energy builds to a rousing finale with the stacking of voices and the choir singing Lord, lift me up to higher ground!.

SKU: A0.835452

A fantastic offer price for the full score and all parts! ... Looking for something to add a sense of oriental exoticism to your amateur orchestral/choral concert? This may be what you're looking for! This charming little suite of six dances lasts about 15½ minutes. It consists of a Pavane, Bourée, Sarabande, Allemande, Basse Danse and Galliard, which vary widely in character. As a whole the suite provides some interesting challenges for both performers and listeners. Apart from conventional strings, flute and harp (which can be either pedal or lever) you will need:
- One or maybe two Arabian ouds. The parts are playable also on a fretless acoustic guitar. (Needs to be fretless because of the quarter-tones in some of the Arabic modes used.)
- A cimbalom (the part can be played on a piano also, with slight modification). You might get away with using a hammered dulcimer but you'd need to make a number of compromises.
- A doumbek and a djembe. These beautiful drums are a must for Middle-Eastern or African music. They're fairly easy to find, though finding somebody who can play them properly may take a bit more doing!
- Finger cymbals and a gong. These are regular western instruments.
- A wind-chime. Anything that produces a nice shimmering spangle of sound will probably do!
- A group of singers (SATB). Nothing particularly challenging but see below.

The primary oud part, the strings and the singers need to have sufficiently good intonation to pitch quarter tones. These are the exception rather than the rule, but nevertheless play an important part in the character of the music. Apart from this, the music is relatively straightforward and probably playable by any reasonably competent amateur or high school orchestra.

In the spring of 2020 I wrote a set of short music tracks for a charity of which I'm a trustee. In order to protect my intellectual property rights in the music, I decided to bring it together into an attractive if not intellectually challenging little suite, hence An Omani Dance Suite. Originally the dances were all in Arabic quarter-tone temperament, but obviously quarter-tones cannot be played easily (if at all) on the flute, harp and cimbalom. So I have made some adjustments but retained the Arabic temperament wherever reasonably possible. I had thought initially of using a santur instead of a cimbalom, but the santur lacks the range and the dynamic capability to be used with a string chamber orchestra. The cimbalom doesn't need to be a concert grand model; in fact it doesn't even need to have dampers.

The Omani was something of an afterthought: a musician friend of mine had worked in Oman and commented on how authentically Omani the Basse Danse sounded. The period of composition coincided with a time when I was really missing friends in Vietnam and Romania, so somehow influences from those countries found their way into the music.

I'm not bothering with performing rights for this - just go away and enjoy the music! ... but if it inspires you find out more about the charity work that inspires me, feel free to get in touch!

https://www.facebook.com/stuartbrownmusic/

SKU: A0.765666

Looking for an anthem for Ash Wednesday or a service of penitence? Here is a beautiful original work that is sure to be a favorite for your congregation and choir. A flowing piano accompanies the choir and is beautifully colored with an optional string quartet. Based on the scriptures from Psalm 51, verses 10-15, the anthem takes the listener on a journey of repentance to salvation. A highly recommended anthem that is accessible for most choirs. (Full SATB Octavo and Accompaniment Track available from Sheet Music Plus.) Included with this purchase: Full Instrumental Score and Instrument Parts, 16 Pages