Composed by Brian Joyce. Contemporary Classical, Sacred, General Worship, Christmas. Score. 29 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.161021). - Score - Contemporary Classical,Sacred,General Worship,Christmas - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. 21st Century, Contemporary Classical, Impressionistic, Post-Romantic. 19 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.160877). - - 21st Century,Contemporary Classical,Impressionistic,Post-Romantic - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. 21st Century, Neo-Classical, Christian, Sacred, General Worship. Score. 37 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.241799). - Score - 21st Century,Neo-Classical,Christian,Sacred,General Worship - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. Contemporary Classical, Sacred. Score, Set of Parts. 30 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.161463). - Score,Set of Parts - Contemporary Classical,Sacred - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. Contemporary Classical, Sacred, Lent. Score, Set of Parts. 48 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.160657). - Score,Set of Parts - Contemporary Classical,Sacred,Lent - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. 21st Century, Contemporary Classical, Post-Modern, Neo-Classical. 36 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.158763). - - 21st Century,Contemporary Classical,Post-Modern,Neo-Classical - Brian Joyce

Composed by Brian Joyce. Contemporary Classical, Christian, Folk. Score, Set of Parts. 27 pages. Published by Brian Joyce (S0.158141). - Score,Set of Parts - Contemporary Classical,Christian,Folk - Brian Joyce

Instrumental Duet Instrumental Duet,Medium Voice - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836719 Composed by Brian Joyce. Arranged by Brian Joyce. Contemporary. Score and parts. 18 pages. Brian Joyce #6567925. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836719). Even very well-versed singers can be forgiven if they have never heard of Everett Maxwell (1858-1940). He was simply one of millions in the vast American workingclass, one who was known to jot down a poem or two now and then.Here we have six examples of his work, poems which he wrote for his childhood sweetheart whom he waited fifty years to marry. Maxwell’s great grandson asked me to set these poems to music saying, the poems illuminate a picture of life in the American midwest during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His poetry serves as a lens through which we can view his . . . youthful romantic view of nineteenth-century prairie life.Since the poems are so imbued with nostalgia and 19th century romanticism, I endeavored to set them with an equally strong sense of the classic art song tradition.Curiously, these songs feel longer than they actually are. There are many pieces about which one could say the same thing with less charity, but in this case it’s a good thing: the poems are quite short (the longest is only twelve lines, the shortest only four!)The entire cycle lasts just under 12 minutes. The audio sample includes most of one song (A June Night) and all of a second (Have You Found a Place?). These are enough to give you a sense of the whole cycle.

Cello,Piano - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836706 Composed by Brian Joyce. 20th Century,Contemporary. Score and part. 19 pages. Brian Joyce #3009363. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836706). A couple of lifetimes ago (or so it seems now) I wrote a quartet of sonatas: one apiece for flute, viola, oboe, and the present work for cello. I thought of them as representing Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter respectively. This one, dating from 1972, expands the concept of a rondo to dimensions covering an entire multi-movement sonata. There are the traditional three movements one would expect to find, but they are tied together through unmetered sections for solo cello set between them. In this way, the true movements almost function as episodes in a giant rondo. Additionally, the solo interpolations form an entity in themselves, each picking up where the previous one left off. And if that weren’t enough, thematic material in the real movements is often first presented in the Interpolations, so it is difficult to tell where an idea really belongs. Given my philosophical leanings at the time (it was the 70s, remember!), this ambiguity was precisely the point.Performance time is approximately 12 minutes.

Composed by Brian Joyce. 20th Century. Score and part. 24 pages. Brian Joyce #2912977. Published by Brian Joyce

Organ - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836714 Composed by Brian Joyce. 20th Century,Christian,Christmas,Sacred. Score. 8 pages. Brian Joyce #4805139. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836714). New for the 2019 Christmas Season, here is a Noël (a set of variations of a type popular in the French Baroque) on a somewhat less well known Advent Carol for manuals only.  Venez, divin Messie (O Come Divine Messiah) is an anonymous 16th century tune to which Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin added the words in the early 18th century. It is a charming melody and this new setting will provide organists with a little something beyond the ordinary Advent/Christmas fare.Originally conceived for harpsichord, this piece easily makes the transition to organ manuals. Performance time is between 9 and 10 minutes depending largely on the acoustics of the room. The attached audio file will tell you everything there is to say about the music. You will hear the entire tune plus the beginning and ending of each variation.

Choral Choir (SATB) - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836712 Composed by Brian Joyce. Christian,Sacred. Octavo. 21 pages. Brian Joyce #4325937. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836712). If you ever need a break from the soundbyte theology found in so many contemporary Christian lyrics, why not revisit the words of Isaac Watts (1674-1748), who could stretch a single coherent thought across multiple verses of his hymns? Watts was a prolific writer on many subjects, including geography, astronomy, ethics, and psychology. His book on Logic became a standard university text, being used at Oxford for over 100 years. But his greatest desire was to assist Christians in the worship of God and it is his hymns for which he is best remembered today.These old words are here set to new music which represents a blending of three different traditions: First, and most obvious, is the rustic sound of early American shape-note singing. Second is the strong linearity of 13th century Ars Antiqua voice leading, in which each part was more or less independent. And third is my own fondness for mixed meters and sonorities built on fourths and seconds. Yet it all works somehow: these are actually very singable hymns once the choir has acclimated to the style. Most fall comfortably into a simple diatonic language and would present no jarring problems for the listener. Five of the hymns are for standard mixed voices (SATB); one is for men’s voices (TTB); one for women’s (SSA) and the last, a Doxology, is in six parts (SSATTB) with a florid threefold amen. There is admittedly a certain sameness about these settings; perhaps it’s best if they are not all sung in one go, cover to cover. Taken individually, however, there is no reason they couldn’t make for a refreshing change from the usual church anthem, and a group of three or four could easily find a place on a choral recital program.

Organ - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836717 Composed by Brian Joyce. Christian,Contemporary,Sacred. Score. 19 pages. Brian Joyce #5030397. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836717). A sister volume to my Shorter English Preludes (also for manuals only), this new set treats in similar fashion some tried-and-true general purpose hymns of German origin. Included are Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice, Jesus Lives and So Shall I, Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus, Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs, If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee, and All Glory Be to God on High. Each Prelude fits on one or two pages (no page turns required) and none is over two minutes in length. As always, sources and timings are included for your planning purposes and the score prints in landscape format.

Clarinet,Piano - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836709 Composed by Brian Joyce. Contemporary. Score and part. 27 pages. Brian Joyce #3074129. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836709). A piece shrouded in mystery and intrigue. For myself, I mean: I don’t even know what the title means, nor why this particular piece should wear it. The music and the title came as a package deal, falling on me out of the blue one day. It wasn’t on my to-do list, nor was I looking for extra work. But perhaps that’s the answer: the piece itself is the Agent, breaking into my nicely ordered studio and disrupting things for the next few months. I’ll have to think about this some more.But I digress. Whatever its meaning or provenance, it’s an odd little sonatina. For instance, at its heart the second movement is a traditional scherzo and trio, but it is as misshapen as anything H. P. Lovecraft himself might have envisioned. Even I am not sure where the beginnings and endings of the sections are without a score in hand. Mystery upon mystery.  Another example: as I began to work on the third movement, I wasn’t sure if it would be a simple binary or ternary form, a rondo or a sonata-allegro. I never did find out, to be honest. All I know is that, to my ears, it sounds like what might have resulted if I had been asked to write the theme to The Simpsons. The audio sample will give you some idea of what I mean.More questions than answers.Performance time is a little under 14 minutes.

Woodwind Ensemble,Woodwind Quintet - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.836708 Composed by Brian Joyce. 20th Century,Contemporary. 24 pages. Brian Joyce #3022299. Published by Brian Joyce (A0.836708). Full disclosure: This work is frankly atonal. Rhythms are tricky. Harmonies are unconventional to say the least. And even the form is nicely aberrant.Yet something magical happens when writing for winds: because of the weak timbre contact between the different instruments, one can write complex textures without losing clarity. One can write dissonant harmonies without having them sound harsh and grating. In fact, there are moments of surprising beauty here. Take for instance the color canons, passages combining all instruments in clusters whose harmonic and rhythmic motion is essentially static, but which shimmer with ever-changing timbres. The title translates - inexactly - to Keeper of Heaven, or Starry Watchman, or Celestial Caretaker, and refers to an imaginary character whose task it is to walk about the heavens at sunset and turn on the stars. He is the galactic equivalent of the old gentlemen who once went about Victorian streets, lighting the gas lamps and generally keeping an eye on things, making sure that all is well. I do not claim that this character is God the Father Almighty, only that he is an old gentleman. But there might very well be something wizard-ish about him!Performance time is approximately seven and a half minutes. The audio excerpt included here is of the last two minutes, where the music comes the closest to being tonal.