A vous sans autre by Antoine Busnoys (SSA or TTB)
A vous sans autre $7.77
SSA or TTB Choir
A renaissance masterwork prepared for performance by M Ryan Taylor.
Lee-Loo-Lye : A Christmas Lullaby [Free]
Lee - Loo - Lye, A Christmas Lullaby (PDF)
SSA or Duet with Piano Note: to make it a duet, leave the second soprano part out.
Words & Music by M Ryan Taylor
The Text:
Lee loo lye, Hush, while thy works sing a lullaby.
Seraphim, Cherubim, tell how he came from thy stars;
Heaven’s bright Lord of the stars lies here in my arms!
Bubbling brook, dancing in joyous measure,
Come sing of new hope, sing of life and rebirth,
Sing us a lullaby, of peace upon earth.
Little fire, fill the cold room with thy breath!
Through the trees the breezes quake,
reminded the dear child must die for our sake!
Lee loo lye, Hush, while thy works sing a lullaby.
Seraphim, Cherubim, tell how he came from thy stars;
Heaven’s bright Lord of the stars lies here in my arms!
Bubbling brook, dancing in joyous measure,
Come sing of new hope, sing of life and rebirth,
Sing us a lullaby, of peace upon earth.
Mary's Manger Song [Free]
Mary’s Manger Song (PDF)
SSA (or SA) with Piano - The optional notes for singing this as an SA piece are clearly marked.
Words by William Gannett
Music by M Ryan Taylor
"A new arrangement of a setting I wrote for the songbook “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem.” The text is at times peaceful, at times somber, at times joyous, and I have tried to reflect that in the setting. Mary ponders the wonder of Christ’s birth as well as the consequences of His mission. Like “Lee-Loo-Lye” (also on this site), this lullaby is would work for a duet, trio or large women’s choir.” ~ Taylor
The Text:
Sleep, my little Jesus,
On Thy bed of hay,
While the shepherds homeward
Journey on their way.
Mother is Thy shepherd
And will her vigil keep:
Did the voices wake Thee?
O sleep, my Jesus, sleep!
Softly sleep, sweetly sleep, my Jesus sleep!
Sleep my little Jesus,
wondrous baby mine!
Well the singing angels
greet Thee as divine.
Through my heart, as heaven,
the joyous echoes sweep:
“Glory to Jehovah!”
O sleep, my Jesus sleep!
Softly sleep, sweetly sleep, my Jesus sleep!
Sleep, my little Jesus,
While Thou art my own!
Ox and ass Thy neighbors,
Shalt thou have a throne?
Will they call me blessed?
And shall I stand and weep?
Be if far Jehovah!
O sleep, my Jesus sleep!
Softly sleep, sweetly sleep, my Jesus sleep!
Ten Tone Twisters
An elegant collection of elocutionary songs for your singing enjoyment by M Ryan Taylor. Settings of traditional tongue twisters! Perfect for ESL choirs or any choir wanting to work on diction and have a wonderful time doing it. Highly contrasted in mood/style and all wonderfully ‘tongue in cheek.’
Mix & Match your Ensembles (a great match for multi-choir programs):
- Solo Voice and Piano
- 2-part Choir and Piano
- SSA Choir and Piano
- SAB Choir and Piano
- SATB Choir & Piano
- Solo Voice and Ukulele
Solo Version:
Contents:
- A Tree Toad Loved a She Toad
- Swan Swam Over Sea
- Betty Botter
- That Felt!
- Yellow Butter, Purple Jelly
- A Flea and Fly
- Black Bug
- The Ghosts!
- Night Light
- Silly Sally
CHOIRWORKS.COM
mryan@choirworks.com
The Boar's Head Carol [Free]
The_Boar’s_Head.pdf
SSA Choir, Solo and Guitar
arr. M Ryan Taylor
The boar’s head in hand bear I,
Bedeck’d with bays and rosemary;
I pray you, my masters, be merry,
Quot estis in convivio.
Caput Apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino.
Although I’ve only included one verse in the sheet music, it may be adapted to contain the additional verses of The Boar’s Heard Carol.
This arrangement is a remnant from an incomplete Christmas children’s opera, Children of the North (based on the story In the Great Walled Country), I began for my master’s project while at BYU. I completed enough for the project, but abandoned the opera when I could see that it was going to be too difficult, as written, for the children’s choir I had intended to perform it. I’d like to go back and compose from this libretto anew someday, starting from scratch, with more realistic expectations for the children.
Other Choral remnants, rearranged, from Children of the North may be found on ChoirWorks.com:
- Sir Christemasse for SSATB Choir and Guitar
- Tyrlow, Tyrloo, Tyrle for SATB Choir and String Quartet
- Then I Was Glad for SSATBB Choir Acappella
There is also a solo, The Terline Tree, from the opera available on my song page from MRyanTaylor.com.
The Moon Songs - 7 songs for SSA Choir on the poetry of Vachel Lindsay
Score of all 7 songs:
Individual Songs:
- 1 What Grandpa Told the Children - SSA.pdf
- 2 What the Hyena Said - SSA.pdf
- 3 What the Little Girl Said - SSA.pdf
- 4 What the Miner in the Desert Said - SSA.pdf
- 5 What the Rattlesnake Said - SSA.pdf
- 6 The Strength of the Lonely - SSA.pdf
- 7 What the Man of Faith Said - SSA.pdf
Whimsical, macabre, deeply spiritual: the poetry of Vachel Lindsay has long attracted me for it’s wild variety, lyric sensability and deep emotional impact. Although made famous by such poems as “The Congo” and “General William Booth Marches into Heaven” (the title poems for the two anthologies from which “The Moon Songs” were selected), I have been attracted mainly to his more concise poems “in which the moon is the principle figure of speech.” These poems explore human perspective, Linday’s hypothesis being that “the moon is a mirror” in which we find what we bring. Lindsay wrote many of these moon poems and it was difficult to choose between so many fine poems. In the end, I based my selection on variety, dramatic contrast and a progression towards my own view of the moon, one that is spiritual.
“The Moon Songs” were originally scored as a song cycle for soprano at the request of my friend, Heather Chipman Morrey. They have since been revised, updated and arranged for SSA choir.
The Poems:
Selections from General William Booth Marches into Heaven and The Congo by American poet, Vachel Lindsay.
What Grandpa Told the Children
The moon? It is a griffin’s egg,
Hatching to-morrow night.
And how the little boys will watch
With shouting and delight
To see him break the shell and stretch
And creep across the sky.
The boys will laugh.
The little girls, I fear, may hide and cry.
Yet gentle will the griffin be,
Most decorous and fat,
And walk up to the Milky Way
And lap it like a cat.
What the Hyena Said
The moon is but a golden skull,
She mounts the heavens now,
And Moon-Worms, mighty Moon-Worms
Are wreathed around her brow.
The Moon-Worms are a doughty race:
They eat her gray and golden face.
Her eye-sockets dead, and molding head:
These caverns are their dwelling-place.
The Moon-Worms, serpents of the skies,
From the great hollows of her eyes
Behold all souls, and they are wise:
With tiny, keen and icy eyes,
Behold how each man sins and dies.
When Earth in gold-corruption lies
Long dead, the moon-worm butterflies
On cyclone wings will reach this place -
Yea, rear their brood on earth’s dead face.
What the Little Girl Said
The Moon’s the North Wind’s cooky.
He bites it, day by day,
Until there’s but a rim of scraps
That crumble all away.
The South Wind is a baker.
He kneads clouds in his den,
And bakes a crisp new moon that . . . greedy
North . . . Wind . . . eats . . . again!
What the Miner in the Desert Said
The moon’s a brass-hooped water-keg,
A wondrous water-feast.
If I could climb the ridge and drink
And give drink to my beast;
If I could drain that keg, the flies
Would not be biting so,
My burning feet be spry again,
My mule no longer slow.
And I could rise and dig for ore,
And reach my fatherland,
And not be food for ants and hawks
And perish in the sand.
What the Rattlesnake Said
The moon’s a little prairie-dog.
He shivers through the night.
He sits upon his hill and cries
For fear that I will bite.
The sun’s a broncho. He’s afraid
Like every other thing,
And trembles, morning, noon and night,
Lest I should spring, and sting.
The Strength of the Lonely
The moon’s a monk, unmated,
Who walks his cell, the sky.
His strength is that of heaven-vowed men
Who all life’s flames defy.
They turn to stars or shadows,
They go like snow or dew –
Leaving behind no sorrow –
Only the arching blue.
What the Man of Faith Said
The dew, the rain and moonlight
All prove our Father’s mind.
The dew, the rain and moonlight
Descend to bless mankind.
Come, let us see that all men
Have land to catch the rain,
Have grass to snare the spheres of dew,
And fields spread for the grain.
Yea, we would give to each poor man
Ripe wheat and poppies red, –
A peaceful place at evening
With the stars just overhead:
A net to snare the moonlight,
A sod spread to the sun,
A place of toil by daytime,
Of dreams when toil is done.
The Riddle (I Gave My Love a Cherry)
The Riddle (I Gave My Love a Cherry)
$7.77 digital download (make as many copies as your choir needs)
SSA or 2-part Choir and Piano
Traditional
Arranged by M Ryan Taylor
1st verse : unison
2nd verse : utilizes ‘freeze notes’
3rd verse : melody and descant
short coda
The Text:
I gave my love a cherry without a stone
I gave my love a chicken without a bone
I gave my love a ring that had no end
I gave my love a baby with no crying
How can there be a cherry that has no stone?
How can there be a chicken that has no bone?
How can there be a ring that has no end?
How can there be a baby with no crying?
A cherry when it’s blooming it has no stone
A chicken when it’s pipping, it has no bone
A ring while it’s rolling, it has no end
A baby when it’s sleeping, has no crying
