Reviews – Joseph Sowa

Ronald Staheli’s “Oh, May My Soul Commune with Thee”

June 10, 2018
by Joseph

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 […]

Sir John Stainer’s “God So Loved the World”

June 1, 2018
by Joseph

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 […]

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 […]

Sally 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]