Major facelift and redesign of the menu system. Finding things should be much easier now. This completes the merge I started between my two composition websites August of 2020.
The Winds page has been updated to fix the broken link on the woodwind quintet piece Falling Rainbows.
1/19/2021
The Solo Vocal & Opera page has been updated to fix many broken links and add new material. The page contains sacred and secular art songs, song cycles, full-length operas, and children’s music.
The Miscellany page has also been updated to fix many broken links. This page contains a piece for Choir, Band & Orchestra, String Quartets, Keyboard & Electro-acoustic works from my college days.
The Christmas Miscellany page has been updated to fix many broken links and add new content. This page contains Christmas solos, instrumental music, a caroling songbook and a number of Christmas plays and stories I’ve written or edited.
8/16/2020 How Great Thou Art – Amazing Grace … Online Collaboration Video
See the Brass tab or scroll down to 7/26 for a free score of this arrangement.
8/8/2020 – Site Merge with MRyanTaylor.com
This is just a quick announcement to say that MRyanTaylor.com now points to Choirworks.com and that I’ve ported over many pages from that site to this one. Now the majority of my sheet music can be found in one place (minus some ukulele music at UkulelePlay.com). I’ll be going through links and updating things to make sure everything is working. Please let me know via ryan@choirworks.com if you find any links broken. I will try to get things all bright and shiny as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience during the merger of sites.
Get A Baker’s Dozen of Christmas Trios for Trumpet, Trombone or Euphonium, and Tuba in one volume for $24.99 on Sheet Music Plus (less than $2 per arrangement). Video demos for each of the pieces are available in this Choirworks Brass Baker’s Dozen of Christmas Trios Playlist on YouTube.
You may also purchase the arrangements separately for $5.99 each with the following links:
Lyrics by M. Ryan Taylor
I will sing because my heart’s filled with thanksgiving, and I hear the earth reply with all that’s living with a song that is long, it’s both gentle and strong: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
All the birds look to the sky and soar with gladness, spreading song to bring us joy and banish sadness. What they say as they play on their pipes is they pray: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
I will join their song and sing of his salvation. Sing with me and take the song to ev’ry nation. All our praise we will raise for His wonders all our days: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Support the creation of new works and get patron-only editions at Patreon.com/Choirworks
New on 9/21/2019
Sleep, My Infant Jesus : a Christmas carol for mixed choir (SSATB) and piano. Mixed choirs that sing predominately accompanied will find this version a lot easier. The piano also adds some great emotion at the climactic measures of the piece. Unsolicited comments on facebook from total strangers: “What beautiful chords!” “I love it. Thank you for sharing!” and “Such beautiful harmonies!”
I’m not one to talk about inspiration very much, but I started working on the piano one day, fiddling around with some chord progressions, and this just sort of poured out of me, lyrics and all. I don’t know that I can be objective about it, but it inspired me, especially the image of God smiling over us … He knows all the strife of life is just temporary, in the same way we may smile over a child struggling to learn how to walk … we know they’re going to be all right and that the struggle is just a necessary part of growth.
Sleep my infant Jesus,
my Savior and my King,
the shepherds bring their adoration,
and angels softly sing of peace on earth,
not for tomorrow
or yet a thousand years,
but evermore your sacrifice
will swallow up man’s tears.
The fears of all the nations,
the hopes of the depressed,
the pains of all the weary
are in your birth addressed,
and God is smiling over us,
for little can we guess,
the joy this babe will bring us
when all is brought to rest.
So sleep until the morning,
the test is yet to come,
for in your day of triumph
you’ll lead us safely home.
All Heaven and it Was One Hour Old for SATB Choir and Piano
This set of five songs based on the Christmas poetry of Katharine Tynan was originally a song cycle for soprano that was featured in a review in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Journal. This new version for SATB choir maintains the spirit of the original while adding the emotional depth 4-part harmonic writing allows for.