Details at a Glance Voicing: SATB a cappella Music: Lorin F. Wheelwright, arr. Ronald J. Staheli Lyrics: Lorin F. Wheelwright Language: English Key(s): B Difficulty: easy Duration: 3:15 min. Pages: 4 Price: $0.99/copy (10+ copies); $1.35/copy (<10 copies) Download Site: Holy Sheet Music Listen: Holy Sheet Music Review Ronald Staheli was the conductor of BYU’s premiere choir, the […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Sir John Stainer’s “God So Loved the World”
Details at a Glance Voicing: SATB Lyrics: John 3:16–17 Language: English Key(s): D Difficulty: moderate Duration: 3:30 min. Pages: 2 Price: $2.75/copy (LDS Choirbook), FREE (CPDL) Download Site: CPDL Listen: Review Sir John Stainer wrote his setting of “God So Loved the World” as part of his oratorio The Crucifixion (1887). Although the larger piece many not be […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Survey Review: “Lead, Kindly Light”
This week we look at hymn 97, “Lead, Kindly Light.” When I went searching for arrangements I found dozens of options. For all the attention this hymn has received, surprisingly few of these options are worth singing. Fewer still are sacrament-meeting appropriate. After highlighting the best arrangements and original settings, I’ve listed a sampling of […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Survey Review: “The Morning Breaks”
This week, we’re going to start something different: survey reviews! My goal is to work through the several dozen most popular hymns and identify (as of writing) what your arrangement options are. As hymn number 1, “The Morning Breaks,” is popular enough, we’ll start there. If you have a particular hymn you want me to […]
Continue readingMore TagSally DeFord’s “Be Thou My Vision”
This week, by request, we’re going to look at another of Sally DeFord’s arrangements, “Be Thou My Vision” for SSAATB choir, piano and C instrument obbligato If you are looking for music for a particular topic or a good arrangement of a particular hymn, please send your requests my way! I’ll look at any pieces you’d […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Robert Manookin’s “Christmas Bells Are Ringing”
Continuing our Christmas theme, this week we’ll look at “Christmas Bells Are Ringing” by Robert Manookin Details at a Glance Voicing: SATB and piano Lyrics: Robert Manookin Language: English Key(s): E Difficulty: Choir—easy. Piano—easy. Duration: 2:00 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHv2H5cj8QPages: 7 Price: $1.33/copy (April 2018 from Sheet Music Plus) Download Site: Sheet Music Plus Listen: Review Robert […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Sally DeFord’s “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night“
As I mentioned in my welcome blog post, one of the things I intend to do on this website is to highlight quality pieces by other composers, explain how they work musically, and what factors you may consider when programming the piece for your choir. If you have pieces you’d like me to review, please send […]
Continue readingMore Tag
How to Make an Easter Hymn from Pachelbel’s Canon
(Cross-posted from josephsowa.com) “I don’t know how you could possibly write music!” It’s a refrain I hear often, even from talented musicians. And I can understand why they say that. Writing music might seem like organizing thousands of isolated pitches and rhythms. For example, my latest arrangement included 2320 notes, 1273 rhythms, and 281 rests. That’s daunting. But there is […]
Continue readingMore Tag
Welcome to My Sacred Music Site!
Welcome to the new sacredmusic.josephsowa.com! After years of publishing my sacred and concert music on the same website, I decided to give my LDS church music its own website. By separating out the two genres, I hope to better serve the communities for whom I write. Toward that end, I’ve started by posting five of […]
Continue readingMore Tag