Free sacred music for the advanced choir
  • vansensei
    Posts: 222
    I am a composer out of Central MN, who's been here on this forum for about four years. At some point, I moved an hour north to St. Cloud, transferred schools and began a Bachelor of Music degree. I've composed a lot more since four years ago and have really improved.

    I am offering my recent sacred music to this forum free of charge, that people may one day use it for the glory of God.

    AMDG

    https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5s0jc5ojkyjdh3c/AADWSuiGdktP3eOLu6-LYRRDa?dl=0
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,199
    Thank you for these fine works, and good luck with your degree studies!!

    Have you considered publishing them at CPDL, where more than 2/3 of the music is sacred music, so that they might reach a wider audience?

    As an aside, I note that three of the five scores are in D-flat Major, which makes me wonder whether you do a lot of your composing/experimenting at a keyboard? I've heard that a number of keyboard players feel that playing on black keys is somehow "easier" or "more comfortable".

    Of course, people who look at my "A Hymn for St Cecilia" which has 6 flats in the key signature might wonder why I chose that over 1 sharp or 1 flat. The simple answer is that my original hymn tune (GLOUCESTER CRESCENT) was composed with 1 sharp, but ... when I set about composing the setting for choir & chamber orchestra with harp, I elected to drop the pitch by a semitone to 6 flats for the simple reason that a harp sounds and plays best when the strings are in their longest (open) position. The pedals on a harp are used to select whether a string plays in the flat, natural, or sharp length, and the longest (flat) length yields the richest and most resonant sound.

    Sorry for the flat keys digression. The main thing is that these works being offered here are very welcome.
  • Carol
    Posts: 856
    Loved the harp explanation!
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,167
    Thanks for the explanation Charles! One of the things I love about this site is that I'm always learning something.