SKU: A0.731656

This traditional Georgia Sea Island spiritual has been arranged for a cappella 3-part chorus, with optional solo sections, optional body percussion, and optional divisi. This arrangement may be accompanied with unpitched percussion, ad-lib. A similar arrangement for SAB choir is also available.

SKU: A0.727282

A DIFFERENT DRUM
(w/Djembe, Congas, Cajon, Bucket Drums, or Other World Percussion)
SSA/TTB or 3-Part Mixed Voices

Need a high powered, driving beat song to bring the house down as an opener or closer? This is a SUPER piece of music!
The message is . . . even though we are individuals and step to the beat of a different drum, we can still work together to make the world a better place. It promotes unity, harmony, diversity, peace, changing the world. This song makes an impact whether it is sung simply or if a production number is created using all kinds of drums. Afew drum types are suggested, but anthing you have on hand can be uaed, even hand claps or other body percussion.

Excellent for middle school, high school and beyond. Great for adult choirs as well.
Written in a key which can be used for SSA, TTB (lower the octaves as necessary), or mixed voices.
Opportunity to teach accented notes
Drum parts are included in score, however, the last page is the individual drumming score for practice or performance.
The verse is semi-contemporary and can be used as as solo, then the chorus wows the audience with the rhythm of the lyrics and drums
Easy, repetitive lyrics
Contemporary harmonies
Chords included for additional instruments, if desired

Piano Accompaniment Track available on this site

SKU: A0.891215

Lights of the Western Sky is a compilation of 3 celestial American folk songs collected by Ruth Crawford Seeger, commissioned by Casper Children's Chorale to celebrate the 2017 total solar eclipse visible in Casper, Wyoming in honor of Mick McMurray. The pieces are connected not only by the folk style and the star subject, but also by tracing the course of a day, and by focusing on the connection of the outer world to the inner soul.

I. Bright Morning Stars-- An additive processional on the ultimate theme of children singing. Though the traditional verses state that the fathers are down in the valley a-prayin''' and the mothers have gone to heaven a-shoutin' (or vice versa), the lyrics have been freely adapted in the folk tradition of floating verses (adapting lyrics to personal experience) to describe the children's experience. The opening percussion motif is intended to evoke Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man.

II. Oh, Watch the Stars-- Oh, Watch the Stars and Great Big Stars, combined in unique ways. The two songs used, Oh, Watch the Stars and Great Big Stars, are distinct in their own right. They have been fused together in this movement, borrowing the text from one and using the tune from the other, and modifying one to partner with the other when presented simultaneously. A fusion of two styles, this movement opens solemnly and culminates in a hoedown showdown.

Laurie Betts Hughes, ASCAP | www.LaurieBettsHughes.com

SKU: A0.910471

Full score including narration and string, trumpet and percussion parts. 

Rough duration is 35 minutes. It is a piece which can be approached by any choir, the choruses themselves are relatively simple, but the Baritone/Narrator part is a little more demanding. Percussion part optional but adds flavour. Please email me if you are planning to perform this work.