Fall 2004 NEW ISSUE
SACRED CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Organ With and Without Other Instruments
LEO NESTOR [b. 1948]: Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates! 
(SATB, Brass Quartet, Percussion & Organ)
• Organ/Choral Score • #5858 • $2.05 • c. 3:30
• Full Score • #5857 • $12.60
• Parts • #5857a • $25.20
Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates! was commissioned by the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia for the installation of its third bishop, The Most Revered Paul Loverde and received its première performance at Eucharist on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, 25 March 1999 at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More, Arlington, Richard Gibala conducting the Cathedral Choir and brass ensemble, Dr. Mary Beth Bennett, organist. The translation of Psalm 24 is by the composer.
“Layers of chant clusters in the opening give way to the door-opening dance of the principal theme. A spirit of lyricism colors the central portion of the anthem. The ornamented dance returns with a percolating ostinato to conclude the happy work.”—Leo Nestor
This work may also be performed by organ alone. The organ part is independent in the full score and provides a full reduction in the choral score. The set includes parts for two trumpets in C or B-flat, two trombones, percussion (timpani) and organ, with two parts for horns in F as substitutes for Trumpet II and Trombone I, an option preferred by the composer.
USE: Annunciation, Palm Sunday or general
• moderately difficult
• skilled church, college, community, professional choruses
DANIEL PINKHAM [b. 1923]: Most Glorious Lord of Life
• Two-part Chorus of Mixed or Equal Voices (all Women or all Men) & Bass Instrument
• #5978 • $1.45 • c. 2:00
Composed to a text by Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599), this accessible setting features lyrical, easy-to-sing choral lines that largely occur over a pedal point D. The edition includes perfomance notes for guitar and organ accompaniment.
“Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day Didst make thy triumph over death and sin, And having harrowed hell, didst bring away Captivity thence captive, us to win: This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin, And grant that we for whom thou diddest die, being with thy dear blood clean washed from sin, May live for ever in felicity: And that thy love we, weighing worthily, May likewise love thee for the same again; And for thy sake, that all like dear didst buy, With love may one another entertain. So let us love, dear Love, like as we ought; Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.”
USE: Easter
• moderately easy
• church use only
SACRED CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Organ With and Without Other Instruments
RONALD ARNATT [b. 1930]: Psalm 67
• SATB Chorus, Congregation, optional Descant & Organ • #5457 • $1.75 • c. 2:30
Ronald Arnatt is currently Director of Music and Organist at St. John’s Church in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts. Completed in 1998, Psalm 67 was composed expressly for the ECS Publishing Psalm Songs series. The distinctive translation used here is by Eugene Peterson from The Message published by NavPress during the early to mid 1990’s. The edition includes a page containing the Refrain which may be extracted and produced free of charge for congregational use.
USE: General
• moderately easy
• church use only
PAUL GIBSON [b. 1952]: Psalm 121
• SAB Chorus & Organ • #5987 • $2.50 • c. 5:40
Born in Sacramento, Paul Gibson currently lives in Downey, California.
“To honor the Right Reverend Warren and Alice Sautebin, a new setting of Psalm 121 was commissioned by their children (and spouses): David and Karen Sautebin, Bruce and Christine Sautebin, Gordon and Carol Sautebin Wright, and David and Anne Tomlinson. My Help Comes From the Lord was presented as a Christmas gift in 2001. The premiere took place in the Sautebins’ home church, Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church, Wisconsin, on August 18, 2002, sung by the church choir augmented by members of the extended Sautebin family, conducted by Anne Tomlinson, and accompanied by Robert Nickel, music director at the church.”
“In recognition of the Sautebins’ life-long devotion to the Moravian Church, this setting incorporates a passage from The Christian Life, a traditional Moravian hymn that sets a paraphrase of Psalm 121 to the tune Amsterdam. Psalm 121 has been particularly meaningful in the prayer life of the Sautebin family.”
We are pleased to add this setting of Psalm 121 to the ECS Publishing Psalm Songs series.
USE: Easter season, memorial services, general
• moderately easy
• church use only
SACRED CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Organ With and Without Other Instruments GÁBOR LEHOTKA [b. 1938]: Sabbato ad vesperas hymnus
Sabbath Evening Hymn
• SATB & Organ • #6048 • $2.05 • c. 5:30
Gábor Lehotka was born in Vác, Hungary, where he currently resides. He holds degrees in organ performance from the Béla Bartók Conservatory, where he previously taught, and the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy where he currently is a faculty member.
Sabbato ad vesperas hymnus is a setting of the words O quanta, qualia sunt illa sabbata (O what their joy and their glory must be). The Latin verses are by Petri Abaelardi (1079–1142) and the English verses are by John Mason Neale (1816– 1866).
Gábor Lehotka’s choral work Veni, Creator Spiritus (Catalog No. 5943 [SATB & organ]) and his organ works Noël (Catalog No. 5496) and Suite Française (Catalog No. 5495) are also available from the publisher.
USE: Sabbath evening hymn
• moderately easy
• church use only
RICHARD WIENHORST [b. 1920]: Hark! the Sound of Holy Voices
• SATB, Two Bb Trumpets & Organ • #5764 • $2.05 • c. 3:15
Richard Wienhorst resides in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he has spent most of his career. Retired from teaching, Wienhorst remains active as a composer.
In this anthem composed to words by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885), the composer offers a new tune and setting. The edition includes the part for the two trumpets.
A large catalog of works by Richard Wienhorst is available from the publisher. See the 2004 Complete Catalog for a full listing.
USE: general anthem
• moderately easy
• church use only
SACRED CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Keyboard
PETER ALDINS [b. 1953]: Kyrie
Lord Have Mercy
• SATB & Keyboard• #5874 • $1.75 • c. 3:15
Peter Aldins is currently Choral Conductor and Organist at the Latvian Lutheran Church in Brookline, Massachusetts and is on the Composition and Theory faculty at the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This setting, which employs a chant melody from the Kyrie of Mass XI, Orbis factor (LU 46) , includes an English singing translation by the composer.
Peter Aldins’ choral work My Soul Shall Sing (Catalog No. 5362 [SATB, organ with optional viola or cello]) is also available from the publisher.
USE: first part of the Ordinary of the Mass rite, Easter season, general
• moderately easy
• church use only
SACRED CHORAL — Mixed Chorus unaccompanied
JAMES MCCULLOUGH [b. 1939]: O Thou In Whose Presence My Soul Takes Delight
• SATB • #6037 • $1.75 • c. 2:40
James McCullough currently resides in Malden, Massachusetts. His piece How Far Is It To Bethlehem? (Catalog No. 6036 [SATB]) has become very popular for Christmas programs.
This setting of an old American folk hymn features words from The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion (1854).
USE: general
• moderately easy
• church, school, community, professional choruses
SACRED CHORAL — Children’s Chorus & Keyboard
RICHARD DELONG [1951-1994]: A Prayer of St. Patrick
• Two-part Children’s Chorus (or Two Equal Voices) & Kbd. • #4798 • $1.45 • c. 1:40
“Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ above me, Christ beneath me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger.”
USE: general
• easy
• church, school or community children’s choruses
SACRED (MAYBE SECULAR) CHORAL — Mixed Chorus and Violoncello
FRANK FERKO [b. 1950]: Lord, Let At Last Thine Angels Come
• Sop. Solo, SATB (divisi) & Violoncello
• #6197 • $2.05 • c. 6:00
• Violoncello Part • #6198 • $2.50
“The text of this work is the final stanza of the hymn Lord, Thee I Love With All My I Heart (Herzlich Lieb hab’ ich dich, o Herr) written approximately in 1567 by Martin Schalling.”
“The original German text of this hymn was based largely on Psalm 18 and Psalm 73. In 1858, Catherine Winkworth translated the hymn for inclusion in her publication Lyra Germanica, but her text was altered extensively in 1863 for inclusion in the Chorale Book for England.”
Although this text has been set to music as a hymn, none of the previously existing music was incorporated into this musical setting. The present setting makes use of a wide variety of choral textures—from very transparent sounds to very dense structures (with the chorus dividing into as many as twelve parts)—as well as a solo violoncello which is used antiphonally with the chorus.” —Frank Ferko
USE: memorial services, concerts
• difficult (mainly for the divisi writing)
• skilled church, college, community, professional choruses
SECULAR (MAYBE SACRED) CHORAL — Mixed Chorus unaccompanied
ROBERT CONVERY [b. 1954]: Epitaph
• SATB • #6026 • $1.75 • c. 3:00
Born in Wichita , Kansas , Robert Convery was raised in California and now resides in New York.
“Epitaph was commissioned by Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia. The occasion of this commission was precipitated by the Chamber Choir of Piedmont College, while on Spring Tour 2000 in Massachusetts , discovering this text on a gravestone. The motet was first performed by Piedmont College Chamber Choir, Dr. C. Wallace Hinson, Director, in April, 2001.” —Robert Convery
The gravestone is in the Boston Granary Burying Ground (est. 1660) marked “Sacred to the Memory of Mrs Ann Barbara Bender who died Septr 12th 1794 Aged 48 years.” In the event that this setting is used to memorialize a man, male gendered words have been added in italics below female gendered words.
Three other choral works by Robert Convery are available from the publisher:
Christmas Daybreak (Catalog No. 6025 [SATB]), The Lamb (Catalog No. 6027 [SATB]) and Young Jesus Sweit (Catalog No. 6028 [soprano solo, SATB]).
USE: concerts, memorial services
• moderately easy
• church, college, community, professional choruses
STANLEY M. HOFFMAN [b. 1959]: A Prayer for the World
• SATB • #6328 • $2.05 • c. 4:00
“On the morning of March 23, 2003, while my wife and I were reading the Sunday newspaper, she spotted an interesting text in PARADE Magazine entitled A Prayer for the World. This prayer, written by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner (author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People), so impressed her, that she immediately brought it to my attention, hoping that I might find it suitable to set to music. Upon first reading, the directness of these words moved me deeply. I decided to compose a choral setting as soon as I could secure the rights to set the text. It is my sincere hope that, in conjunction with the music, Rabbi Kushner’s nature-inspired, nonsectarian prayer for universal tolerance, will reach an even wider public.” — Stanley M. Hoffman
USE: services, concerts
• moderately difficult
• temple, church, school, community, professional choruses
ROBERT KYR [b. 1952]: Canticle of the Brother Sun
• SATB (divisi) • #5796 • $2.50 • c. 4:30
Sung in the original Italian language, this setting highlights the well-known words by St. Francis of Assisi by featuring sections for mixed chorus alternating with sections for women’s and men’s chorus.
USE: concerts, services
• moderately difficult
• church, school, community, professional choruses
SECULAR CHORAL — Mixed Chorus & Orchestra
LEONARD ENNS [b. 1948]: The Silver Cord
• Baritone Solo, SATB Chorus & Orchestra
• #6113 • $6.90 • c. 35:00
• Piano/Vocal Score
Movement III
New to ECS Publishing, Leonard Enns is Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
“The text for The Silver Cord, a choral symphony in three movements, is drawn largely from the Book of Ecclesiastes. The first movement laments the fact that we are locked into a cycle of recurring historical events, and grow weary of this repetition in which there ‘is no remembrance of former things.’ ”
“The second movement is a rondo, a formal structure (Rondo-episode-Rondoepisode- Rondo) frequently used by classical composers for joyful or playful purposes. Here, however, the normal character is turned on its head, and the music of the recurring theme is in fact bitter and frenzied, expressing the text: ‘There is nothing better to do than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in our toil.’ Two introspective sections (episodes) stand in contrast to this recurring theme. The first, beginning with the text ‘As we came from our mother’s womb so shall we go again’ is texturally ‘naked’ at its outset, pairing the solo cello alone with the baritone soloist. After the return of the rondo material, the voice of the solo cello begins the second episode, gradually descending as the choir sings ‘Who knows if the spirit goes upward...?’ The movement ends in a frenzy with the final return of the rondo theme.”
The third movement begins quietly, and without a pause after the tumultuous ending of the second. The sixth verse of Psalm 130 (the De profundis ) provides the concluding text: ‘My soul waits... as the watchman waits for the morning.’ The movement remains peaceful throughout; the focus is on active waiting.”
“The Silver Cord is ultimately about life, the seeming futility of which is constantly overcome, even in the most desperate of conditions, by a fragile hope—a vulnerable faith perhaps—a delicate cord which connects us to our source of meaning.” —Leonard Enns
Instrumentation: Flute, Oboe, 2 Clarinets, Bassoon, Contra Bassoon, 2 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (1 Player), Strings.
The full score and parts are available on Rental from the publisher.
USE: concerts
• moderately difficult
• school, community, professional choruses
GWYNETH WALKER [b. 1947]: Let Evening Come
• Sop. Soli, SSAA & Piano • #5946 • $2.05 • c. 3:30
“The poem Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon speaks of the peace and comfort of evening. This musical setting focuses on several images associated with evening. The opening, four-note motive in the piano accompaniment might be heard as church bells tolling the coming of nightfall. These bells return (with singing) at the end of the piece.”
“The Altos enter with the phrase, ‘Let evening come.’ This is sung initially all on one pitch (D), and later moves only to surrounding pitches. This static and peaceful pattern anchors the music, and offers a reassurance of the inevitable return of evening, and of comfort.”
“Soprano soloists, in a gentle recitative , present the opening stanzas of the poem – images of afternoon leading into evening. The soloists continue, and the group refrain of ‘Let evening come’ is repeated more and more quickly, uniting as the full chorus sings: ‘Let it come, as it will, and don’t be afraid.’ The music culminates in celebration with the singing of ‘Let evening come,’ with rapid accompaniment (church bells) in the piano.” —Gwyneth Walker
USE: concerts
• moderately easy
• school, community, professional women’s choruses
SECULAR CHORAL — Woman’s Chorus, Horn & Piano
JOELLE WALLACH [b. 1946]: Why the Caged Bird Sings
• SA, Horn & Piano • #7.0444 • $2.50 • c. 8:30
• Horn Part • #7.0445 • $2.50
Joelle Wallach grew up in Morocco, but makes her home in New York City, where she was born.
Composed to the famous poem Sympathy by Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872–1906) and set in the key of B-flat minor, this piece is also available from the publisher in a version for SA chorus, horn and string orchestra in the key of A minor.
The catalog numbers for that version are as follows: Full Score - Catalog No. 7.0446; String parts - Catalog No. 7.0447; Horn part - Catalog No. 7.0448 and piano/ choral rehearsal score - Catalog No. 7.0449.
USE: concerts
• moderately difficult
• school, community, professional women’s choruses
Note: See Joelle Wallach'e essay on writing Why the Caged Bird Sings as part of the Composer's Craft series.
SECULAR CHORAL — Children’s Chorus & Piano
GWYNETH WALKER [b. 1947]: The Whole World (in His Hands)
• Two-part Children’s Chorus & Piano
• #6228 • $2.05 • c. 4:30
This joyful arrangement of the well-known, traditional African-American spiritual features fun staging directions for the chorus and suggestions for audience participation.
USE: concerts
• easy
• school or community children’s choruses
VOCAL MUSIC — Baritone & Piano
DAVID CONTE [b. 1955]: Everyone Sang
Homecoming (A. E. Stallings)
Entrance (Rainer Maria Rilke, Dana Gioia, tr.)
Quilt (Diane Theil)
Everyone Sang (Sigfried Sassoon)
• Baritone & Piano • #5333 • $15.15 • c. 13:00
The songs Homecoming and Quilt were commissioned by the West Chester University Poetry Conference, West Chester, Pennsylvania, and were premiered by baritone Robert Barefield and pianist Carl Cranmer on June 7, 2003. Entrance was written in July, 2003 for inclusion in this set of songs. The song Everyone Sang was premiered by Maris Vipulis and pianist Marc Shapiro on April 16, 1998. The four songs are each dedicated to four singer-friends of the composer.
USE: recitals, auditions
• moderately difficult
VOCAL MUSIC — Opera Piano/Vocal Score
RONALD PERERA [b. 1941]: S.
• Piano/Vocal Score • #5751 • $80.00 • c. 2:25:00
Based on the novel by John Updike, S. is set primarily in present-day Boston, Boston’s North Shore and in the Arizona desert. It follows Sarah Worth, a wealthy doctor’s wife and a loving mother in her mid forties, as she flees her suburban life to join her guru, a charismatic Hindu religious leader known as the Arhat, at his ashram in Arizona. A hilarious romp through 1980’s American culture, S. features a contemporary, tonal musical language with elements of Indian raga.
Instrumentation (Orchestra Version): 2 Flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 Oboes (2nd doubling english horn), 2 Clarinets (2nd doubling alto saxophone, bass clarinet), 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Harp, 2 Percussion, Sitar (may be performed on synthesizer), optional Tambura, Strings.
Instrumentation (Chamber Version): 2 Pianos (2nd doubling synthesizer), optional Tambura, 2 Percussion.
The full scores and parts are available on Rental from the publisher.
USE: concerts
• difficult
• skilled college, community, professional opera companies
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC — Solo Organ
FRANK FERKO [b. 1950]: Mass for Dedication
• Organ Solo • #6244 • $12.60 • c. 12:30
“Mass for Dedication was composed for the dedication of the renovated Howell pipe organ at Christ Church , Winnetka , Illinois. All registrations provided in the score are based on the stop list of the Howell instrument. Organists who wish to perform this work on other instruments should make every effort to maintain, as closely as possible, the designated tone colors.” —Frank Ferko
USE: Dedication services, concerts
• moderately difficult
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