Latest Releases for VOCAL and CHORAL

Karen E. Christianson
Psalm of Thanksgiving
SA Chorus and Piano

The premiere release is a wonderful new sacred choral by a 4th grader! With solid, mature writing, Psalm of Thanksgiving is perfect for any church choir or service.

Hildegard Music Publishing 392-01202 • $1.95  Add to Cart

Preview Psalm of Thanksgiving here (non-printable PDF, 773KB)

The final movement in Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, Agnus Dei is an absolutely stunning setting of the sacred text, calling for the “Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world” to “grant them rest.” The entire cycle’s recording by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Sinfonia Orchestra, as well as its recording by Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia received Grammy nominations. For advanced choirs.

Peermusic Classical 62377-122 • $1.60  Add to Cart

“Text Our Friends!” is a quirky, fun piece for two-part chorus, aimed to bring the audience up to speed with the abbreviations and slang used when text messaging on a cell phone. Duration: 3:00

Theodore Presser Co. 312-41857 • $1.65  Add to Cart

“When Storms Arise” is the first of three installments in Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Dunbar Hymns, featuring text by Lawrence Dunbar, the first known African-American author of hymn texts. “When Storms Arise” honors Crispus Attacks, widely known as the first African-American to give his life in the black struggle for independence. Duration: 3:00

Theodore Presser Co. 312-41849 • $1.65  Add to Cart

“Lead Gently, Lord” is the second of three installments in Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Dunbar Hyms, featuring text by Lawrence Dunbar, the first known African-American author of hymn texts. This soulful SAB octavo is a testament to the hope inspired by the Lord and the guidance He provides. Duration: 3:00

Theodore Presser Co. 312-41850 • $1.50  Add to Cart

“Little Lamb” is the third of three installments in Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Dunbar Hyms, featuring text by Lawrence Dunbar, the first known African-American author of hymn texts. A playful piece for SATB a cappella chorus, “Little Lamb” tells the story of a lost sheep and his reunion with his master. Duration: 3:00

Theodore Presser Co. 312-41851 • $1.50  Add to Cart

NEW for 2010
VOCAL MUSIC Catalog

Includes Theodore Presser Company, Carl Fischer Music, and our Affiliated Publishers

Download PDF (6.3MB)

Two PDF Catalogs from our Rental Library
made available for download:

OPERA from Presser and Affiliated Publishers

CHORUS from Presser and Affiliated Publishers

Originally written for guitarist Benjamin Verdery and featured on the album, Daniel Asia: Songs from The Page of Swords, Sacred Songs is here scored with piano, substituting for guitar. Two contrasting settings, Oseh Shalom and Shiru L'Adonai, show the breadth and power of the composer's evolving style and technique. Now available as Custom Print.

Theodore Presser Company
Complete Set 141-40073 • $56.95  Add to Cart
Score 141-40073S • $34.95  Add to Cart
Set of Parts 141-40073M • $31.95  Add to Cart

Commissioned by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, The Long-Haired Girl is Bond's musical setting of a Chinese folk tale, with text supplied by noted Indiana storyteller, Sue Grizzell. Well suited to children's concerts. Now available as Custom Print. Duration: 10'

Theodore Presser Company
Complete Set 111-40228 • $79.95  Add to Cart
Score 111-40228S • $27.95  Add to Cart
Set of Parts 111-40228M • $60.95  Add to Cart

Commissioned for "maybe something simple for an old crooner," Hodkinson has penned a set of four ballads on traditional folk lyrics. Duration: c. 15'

Merion Music 141-40072 • $25.95  Add to Cart

See a 2-page spread

Peermusic presents an earlier Lauridsen work, in anticipation of the release of a new CD, "Voce Sings Lauridsen — Sure On This Shining Night." Dating back to 1977, Be Still is Lauridsen's musical statement on the Viet Nam conflict, incorporating the text of A. E. Housman to powerful effect. Its premiere recording is part of the new CD, which also features excerpts from his very popular choral cycles, Les Chansons des Roses and Madrigali, along with the complete Nocturnes, and more. Lauridsen spent a good amount of time with the young choir Voce, becoming more and more impressed with their skills, and is even heard playing piano on the recording. For advanced performers. Dur.: 8' 10"

Peermusic Classical 61648-224 • $24.95  Add to Cart

Universal Edition looks back to Vienna in the early 20th century to select some of the most intriguing examples of the art song. This excellent sampling includes works by Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Arnold Schönberg, and more! Notes on the composers are included, along with helpful, literal English translations of the texts. For advanced singers.

Universal Edition UE33936 • $37.95  Add to Cart

From one of the leading composers of opera in the United States, Thomas Pasatieri, Theodore Presser Company presents the complete piano-vocal score of Frau Margot, based on an original play by director Frank Corsaro. This masterpiece tells the story of a jealous widow who denies the public the consumption of the final work of her deceased husband, fictional composer Erich Künstler. Commissioned by the Fort Worth Opera, Frau Margot premiered in June of 2007. (Orchestral score and parts available on rental.)

Theodore Presser Company 411-41117 • $40.00  Add to Cart

Garrop uses six of Eleanor Roosevelt's articles from her "My Day" column (1935-1962) as texts in her new vocal settings.

Theodore Presser Company 111-40224 • $29.95  Add to Cart

See a 2-page spread.

Lady Macbeth is a new monodrama for soprano voice and piano by Thomas Pasatieri, best known for his many operas that have become standards in American vocal repertoire. The text draws its inspiration from the monologues of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Heartfelt, dramatic, and at times artfully atonal, Pasatieri brings the words of Shakespeare alive in a ravishing new setting. For the advanced vocalist. Duration: 18’

Theodore Presser Company 411-41118 • $11.95  Add to Cart

Commissioned by the Mary Flagler Cary Trust for the Jubal Trio, who first performed the work in San Francisco, May, 2000. With text by Atwood, A Red Shirt effectively portrays a mother's reflection on her daughter's growth from childhood to maturity. For advanced performers.

Merion Music Custom Print edition
Complete 141-40070 • $59.95  Add to Cart
Score only 141-40070S • $34.95  Add to Cart
Parts only 141-40070M • $35.95  Add to Cart

Set to a poem by Damien Kongressi, an Albanian monk and granduncle of the composer. Featured on the recording The Devil in the Flesh and Other Pieces (Albany TROY 665) by Marc-André Hamelin with soprano Jody Applebaum.

Voice and Piano version
Merion Music 141-40046 • $19.95  Add to Cart

Voice, Oboe, Violoncello, Piano
This version of Satori is dedicated to and for James & Dorothy Freeman, who premiered
this arrangement in 2006. Dur.: 11' See the program notes and first three pages here
(PDF, 577KB).
Merion Music 141-40071 • $40.95 Score and Parts  Add to Cart
Score only 141-40071S • $21.95  Add to Cart
Instrument parts 141-40071M • $27.95  Add to Cart

These seven compositions for voice were written in the early part of Alban Berg’s distinguished career, a period during which he was under the instruction of Arnold Schoenberg. Long available for soprano voice, Seven Early Songs has now been transposed for medium voice, due to popular demand. Bearing touches of Strauss and Mahler, this collection of songs in varying styles features texts by the likes of Carl Hauptmann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Theodor Storm. For the advanced singer.

Universal Edition UE33931 • $34.95  Add to Cart

Composer David Sawer has penned a passionate duet for soprano and mezzo soprano, based on the words of Edward Thomas’ poem, “The Source.” Written for the 20th anniversary of NMC recordings, a label devoted to the music of living British composers, The Source is most appropriate for advanced singers.

Universal Edition UE21474 • $17.95  Add to Cart

Morten Lauridsen’s Nocturnes have enchanted choirs and directors around the world, and he has now adapted Sure on This Shining Night, a movement based on a James Agee poem, for duet between a soprano/mezzo-soprano and a tenor/baritone. This particular arrangement of Sure on This Shining Night is dedicated to Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts from 2003 until 2009. In his program notes, Lauridsen stresses that this setting is to be performed like “a song from the American musical theater stage.” Soloists will be thrilled by this adaptation of an already well-loved work.

Peermusic Classical 62332-210 • $12.95  Add to Cart

A reverent and introspective collection of three works by female poets set to music for soprano or mezzo soprano voice, flute, cello, and piano by Meira Warshauer, A Time to Blossom includes “A Song to Mary,” by Hildegard von Bingen, “Have You Got a Brook,” by Emily Dickinson, and “Caesaria,” by Hannah Senesh. For advanced singers and players.

Hildegard Publishing Co. 491-00626 • $24.95  Add to Cart

See a spread.

Hailstork's new set of art songs was written for friend and colleague Agnes Fuller, set to poems of Ellen Wise, a friend of Fuller's.The resulting musical poetry reflects, augments, and expands upon the text. The songs vary from the "rhythmic and bluesy" Sun to the delicate Luna Moth. Accomplished performers will enjoy this new cycle from Hailstork. Duration: 16'

Theodore Presser Co. 111-40221 • $25.95  Add to Cart

Hailstork uses the famous Shakespeare text to great effect in this new soprano solo, with a bit of swing to the beat.

Theodore Presser Company 111-40223 • $29.95  Add to Cart

See a 2-page spread

While this page is designed to acquaint you with the very latest publications, we encourage you to download our PDF catalog, which includes over 5,000 titles from Presser, Carl Fischer Music, and our Affiliates.

See also our Spotlite on Morten Lauridsen!

and our Spotlite on Arvo Pärt!

2010 Choral Catalog
135 pages! (7.4MB)
2010 Edition
expanded and updated
featuring Part-by-Part!

Chen Yi’s From the Path of Beauty is a seven-movement song cycle for mixed choir and string quartet. Theodore Presser Company has made available this single movement in an alternate performance option of a cappella SATB chorus. According to the program notes, this cycle “brings us through the history of beauty in Chinese arts, from ancient totems to figurines, from poetry to calligraphy, from dance to music, from thoughts to the spirit. It is deep in expression and rich in color, lyrical yet dramatic.” Commissioned by Chanticleer and the Shanghai Quartet for the celebration of their 30th and 25th anniversaries, the complete work was premiered on March 13, 2008 in San Francisco. The New York premiere followed on April 11, 2008 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. For advanced choirs. Dur.: 2'

Theodore Presser Company 312-41853 • $1.65  Add to Cart

Two Chinese Folk Songs is the result of collaboration between two of Theodore Presser Company’s most prolific composers. It was commissioned and premiered by the Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club, March 16, 2008 in Beijing, China. Chen Yi sets the love song “The Flowing Stream” for women’s chorus, and Steven Stucky sets the work song “The Sun Is Rising with Our Joy” for men’s chorus. In the final section, both songs are interwoven and overlapped with full mixed chorus. For advanced choirs. Dur.: 5'

Theodore Presser Company 312-41855 • $1.95  Add to Cart

The famous couplets from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing have been set to music in another Shakespeare Madrigal from Robert Baksa. This flowing piece encourages the women upset by their lovers’ wrongs to forget about them and have fun on their own. For intermediate-level choirs.

Composers Library Editions 392-01194 • $1.80  Add to Cart

Robert Baksa gives us a new edition of his Who is Silvia?, excerpted from Shakespeare Madrigrals. Drawn from Shakespeare’s comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona, this playful work extols the virtues of Silvia, a character who is sought after by various men throughout the chaotic play. For intermediate-level choirs. Duration: 1’50”

Composers Library Editions 392-01193 • $1.70  Add to Cart

Coronet Press has released a new arrangement of the classic Christmas carol While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, for SATB chorus. Quoting the Winchester Old and Christmas tunes, Music has made this well-loved carol accessible to intermediate-level community and church choirs. Duration: 2’30”

Coronet Press 392-42477 • $1.65  Add to Cart

Widely-performed composer Miguel Del Aguila’s setting of the Ave Maria text is adapted from a section of his Choral Suite from the Opera “Time and Again Barelas”.

Peermusic Classical 62374-118 • $1.60  Add to Cart
See a two-page spread.

Universal Edition replaces their 1999 edition with a new anthology of study scores containing choral works by Estonian minimalist, classical composer Arvo Pärt. This volume, containing 22 works total, is the most accurate representative of Pärt’s work at present, including many new pieces as well as two selections from his major a cappella work, Kanon Pokajanen. The collection was also created with three composer-approved CD recordings in mind:
Arvo Pärt: Triodion (Hyperion Records CDA67375),
Arvo Pärt: Choral Works (Virgin Classics 0724356243422),
and Arvo Pärt: Da pacem (Harmonia Mundi HMU807401).

Universal Edition UE33880 • $49.95  Add to Cart
See our Spotlite on Arvo Pärt!

Commissioned by the Louth Contempory Music Society, Pärt’s The Deer’s Cry had its world premiere in February 2008 in Louth, Ireland, performed by the State Choir Latvija and conducted by Fergus Sheil. Based on a setting of the poem “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” (Christ with me, Christ before me), this five-minute a cappella work evokes peaceful contemplation in both choirs and audiences alike.

Universal Edition UE33723 • $9.95  Add to Cart
See our Spotlite on Arvo Pärt!

UPDATE...for Lauridsen's NOCTURNES cycle...

Morten Lauridsen
Epilogue: Voici le soir (Night has come)
Words by Rainer Maria Rilke
SATB Choir and Piano

According to the composer, Voici le soir is designed as an epilogue to his well-known choral cycle Nocturnes, and should be performed only when the entire cycle is programmed, as an extension to Sure On This Shining Night. In its entirety, Lauridsen’s Nocturnes cycle recalls the opening motives of Sa Nuit d’Été, and was premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale conducted by Grant Gershon at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on May 4, 2008. The words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke are set against rich, jazz-tinged modal harmonies and bell sounds in the Nocturnes, and this Epilogue finally completes the cycle with a dark, haunting finish. For high school or university choirs. Duration: 2’

Peermusic Classical 62330-122 • $1.60  Add to Cart

Composed over a period of 40 years, Robert Baksa’s Shakespeare Madrigals have been wholly embraced by the choral community and this new installment will be no exception. Hark Hark! The Lark is written in traditional madrigal form, based on William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, a tragicomedy based on the real-life British monarch Cunobelinus. For advanced singers. Duration: 1' 20".

Composers Library Edition 392-01192 • $1.70  Add to Cart

Margaret Tucker has served long and well in the church community, one of the first Commissioned Ministers of Music in the United Church of Christ. She is also a published composer of hymns, and co-editor of Hymns of Truth & Light. Her Invitation, adapting text by British poet Israel Zangwill, serves well as both a wedding celebration or hymn of welcome. Layered and staggered voices build into the verse, the voices calm and welcoming. Some divisi in the upper voices, but not challenging. Particularly effective with flute, but organ accompaniment can be used. For intermediate singers. Duration: 3' 30".

Thorpe Music Publications 392-03088 • $1.90  Add to Cart

Commissioned for the Ithaca College Annual Choral Festival, Dan Welcher has created a beautiful collection of three Walt Whitman poems (“I Celebrate Myself,” “I Am He That Walks,” and “There Is That in Me”), set for SATB voices. They are serious, yet flow easily, and will be very useful for college choirs. For advanced and college choirs.

Theodore Presser Company 362-03417 • $4.95  Add to Cart

On the 45th anniversary of German Romantic composer Joseph Marx’s death, Universal Edition releases a clean edition of his rich, imposing masterpiece for male choir, Morgengesang. A new recording of this piece also appears on the CD Joseph Marx: Orchestral Songs and Choral Works (Chandos CHAN 10505).

Universal Edition UE33642 • $13.95  Add to Cart

Composers Library Editions releases another installment in the Shakespeare Madrigals series from prolific Hungarian-born composer Robert Baksa. Spring is a lighter take on the melody from the previously released Winter, written for four-part a cappella mixed voices and drawing its text from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour Lost. For advanced singers. Duration: 1’20”

Composers Library Editions 392-01191 • $1.80  Add to Cart

Presser Choral Music in Action!

Chen Yi
Spring Dreams
for SSAATTBB Chorus a cappella

WATCH Chanticleer's performance of this 1999 Chen Yi release on YouTube.
Then click "See a page" for a 2-page sample of this choral.

Presser 312-41745 • $1.50  Add to Cart

Pärt’s take on the Te Deum text, also known as the “Ambrosian Hymn”, employs his signature tintinnabuli style of composition. The melodic lines, as well as their harmonies, strictly follow the rhythms of the text, resulting in heightened importance given to the text itself and an unconventional setting. For advanced players and vocalists.

Universal Edition UE34184 • $18.95  Add to Cart
See our Spotlite on Arvo Pärt!

Hailstork considers the poetry of Dunbar, widely hailed as the first eminent African-American poet, whose works were featured in the great poetry journals of the day. Fluent in a variety of writing styles, his incorporation of turn-of-the-century black dialect brought him the most acclaim and the most debate within literary circles.

Presser presents three chorals by Hailstork, using poems entitled "Hymns" by Dunbar. When Storms Arise is the centerpiece of Hailstork's cantata, Crispus Attucks, Lead Gently, Lord appears in his song-cycle, Paul Laurence Dunbar: Common Ground. The third setting, Little Lamb, is dedicated to Nina Scott and her Renaissance High School Choir of Detroit, Michigan.

All are accessible to college and advanced high school choirs.

Morten Lauridsen's stunning Sure On This Shining Night from his popular cycle Nocturnes is now available in a TTBB setting with piano. This particular arrangement is dedicated to the composer’s friend Maestro Paul Salamunovich, choral icon and former conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, for which Lauridsen was composer-in-residence from 1995-2001.

Peermusic Classical 62366-120 • $1.70  Add to Cart

My esteem for the great Broadway songwriters has only deepened over the years. Their enduring, rich legacy of quintessentially American music has certainly influenced my music during my entire career, especially in the creation of what I hope to have been elegant and gracious lines for those singing my works.
"Where Have The Actors Gone" is my contribution to this genre of theater/cabaret songs, first introduced by jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson at the Improv Theater in Los Angeles and later recorded by Sunny with keyboard artist Shelly Berg on "Lauridsen – Northwest Journey" (RCM 12001). The story tells of the end of a love relationship through an allegorical tale of actors bringing their play to a close and parting ways.

I asked my good friend, Grammy recipient and veteran studio singer Ian Freebairn-Smith, widely known for his many brilliant vocal arrangements, sound tracks and original compositions, to arrange "Actors" in two versions, one with my original piano accompaniment intact and the second a more expanded version for a cappella jazz choir. His deft, beautifully-crafted renditions now make this song available to choruses as well.

Written in a lively calypso style, Pollution is deceptively cheerful until you pay attention to the lyrics, which address the damage done to America’s water supply by development. Watch a video of Lehrer performing this song here (YouTube video) Duration: 2’ See a page.

Thorpe Music Publishing Company 392-03089 • $1.75  Add to Cart

Originally featured on the children’s TV show The Electric Company, Silent E is a cute little ditty about the function of the letter “E” as a silent vowel. Watch Silent E as featured on The Electric Company here (YouTube video) Duration: 1’30” See a page.

Thorpe Music Publishing Company 392-03090 • $1.75  Add to Cart

L-Y demonstrates the use of the suffix “-ly” by illustrating situations where it would come in handy — tiptoeing QUIETLY as you pass a sleeping tiger, for example! Here’s a clip of L-Y as it was originally featured on The Electric Company: YouTube video Duration: 2’15”
See a page.

Thorpe Music Publishing Company 392-03091 • $1.75  Add to Cart

O-U makes use of the “ou” sound, demonstrating it through a quick narrative by a very well-behaved hound, who must remain quiet if he does not want to be taken to the pound! Watch
O-U as it originally appeared on The Electric Company here (YouTube video) Duration: 1’15” See a page.

Thorpe Music Publishing Company 392-03092 • $1.60  Add to Cart

The Latest Releases from ABINGDON PRESS
Click the cover to see the first page of music

Indispensible Worship Planners from Abingdon Press!

PREPARE! 2009-2010 edition
Music and Worship Planner

Catalog 777-40095• $21.00   Buy
Read the back cover

The United Methodist Music & Worship Planner
2009-2010 edition

Catalog 777-40096• $22.00   Buy
Read the back cover

The Choir Director's Organizer
2009-2010 edition

Catalog 777-40097• $16.00   Buy
Read the back cover

Written for the New York Women’s Chorus and the composer’s dear friend John Morgan, Robert Dennis’ Bow and Bend for SSAA choir with keyboard is a collection of six songs colored by Shaker beliefs of personal revelation, equality between the sexes, celibacy and dedication to work. The first and last movements (“Grant, O Lord”) are based on a Shaker hymn tune, and the rest of the music is original, reflecting the Shaker spirit of simplicity.

E. Henry David 392-02582 • $4.95  Add to Cart

Popularized by gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the 1950s, Didn’t It Rain is a rousing spiritual about the rain that fell after Noah built his ark. David Düsing’s arrangement features two tenor voices on the lively melody with the choir acting as rhythmic backup.

E. Henry David 392-02584 • $2.10  Add to Cart

Michael Levi has arranged traditional Irish song Dingle Bay for SATB a cappella choir, a lighthearted homage to the bay area located in County Kerry, western Ireland.

E. Henry David 392-02580 • $1.80  Add to Cart

This is a new setting for SSAA voices of Little Boy, a solemn and hauntingly beautiful spiritual about the birth of Christ. The first soprano part is given the simple, sweeping melody, and is supported by dense harmonies in the other voice parts.

E. Henry David 392-02586 • $1.50  Add to Cart

Building on the notion that many ancient texts translated during the 19th century were incorrectly interpreted, Matt Schickele goes one step further in tweaking history by adding his own translations in Mistranslations for SSA a cappella choir. Each movement represents a different text: “Aztec,” “Assyrian,” a second “Assyrian,” and “Egyptian.”

E. Henry David 392-02581 • $2.10  Add to Cart

Robert De Cormier has set Louise Dobbs’ lovely poem Sing Everyone, Sing Me for SATB chorus with solo soprano and keyboard, celebrating the power of song as it applies to all aspects of life. The solo soprano part floats above a multilayered, lush SATB choir for a rich, inspiring effect.

E. Henry David 392-02583 • $1.80  Add to Cart

NEW for 2009 —

Carl Fischer Music is pleased to announce that they are now the exclusive sales agent for the
BriLee Music Publishing Company
and its phenomenal catalog of choral works! With its focus on developing young voices, BriLee's catalog features many of the great choral composers and arrangers you know and a wealth of material suitable for your school choir.

Download the NEW 2009 PDF catalog. (52 pages, 1.16MB)