ALLAN BEVAN, COMPOSER

Full Fathom Five

4/25/2022

 
Voicing: TTBB and piano and SATB and piano
Text: William Shakespeare (1564-1616) (The Tempest)
Published by: Cypress Choral Music (2020)
Version for SATB and piano: Cypress Choral Music (2020)
Notes: Composed in 2004 for Da Camera Singers, Edmonton, Canada. The text is one of Ariel's songs from Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest. Be sure to listen to the gorgeous live recording of the work sung by the men of the Ontario Youth Choir on the right. In 2019 Full Fathom Five was named the winning piece in the Chor Leoni C4 Competition.  Have a listen to their fabulous recording. Thanks to Erich Lichte, Ken Cormier (piano) and the men of the chorus for such a fine interpretation.  Full Fathom Five is also included in my  No Mortal Business, a large-scale work for choir and chamber orchestra on the life of Shakespeare (read more in my blog "Shakespeare's 400th"). See the Canadian Music Centre for further details on this work, and look for "No Mortal Business" in the blog section of this site to listen to the final movement in an amazing live performance by the Toronto Orpheus Choir, Robert Cooper, conductor.

Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade

But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Hark! now I hear them: ding, dong, bell.


Performed by: The Ontario Youth Choir, conducted by Dr. Marta McCarthy, Leslee Heys, piano; Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto; August 24, 2014.


1 Comment

Danny Boy, arr.

4/17/2022

 
Voicing: SSA and piano; SATB and piano; TTBB and piano
Melody: Traditional Irish melody ("Londonderry Air")
Text: Frederick Weatherly (1848-1929)
Published by: Rhythmic Trident Music Publishing
(RTBF-006) (2013)
Retail: The Leading Note ; Long and McQuade;
Notes: The original version of this arrangement (SATB) was composed in 1998 for the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, Dr. Leonard Ratzlaff, conductor. The SATB setting is also published by Rhythmic Trident (RTBF-005) as is a new version for men's voices (RTBF-007). You may read a 2015 Choral Journal review of the SSA version of the work (under "Read more" below)

O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
From glen to glen and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
Its you, its you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back, when summers in the meadow,
Or when the valleys hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
O Danny boy, O Danny boy, I love you so.

But when ye come and all the flowers are dying,
And I am dead as dead I well may be.
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying.
And kneel and say an 'Ave' there for me.

And I shall hear though soft you tread above me,
For all my grave will warmer sweeter be.
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
Performed by: Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, conductor, Pamela Reimer, piano

Picture
Frederick Weatherly
Picture

LuAnn Holden, Artistic Director of the Chattanooga Girls Choir and music education faculty member at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee provided the following review printed in the November 2015 edition of The Choral Journal.

Read More
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Gentle Mary Laid Her Child

4/1/2022

 
Voicing: SSA and piano with optional soprano solo; also SATB, TTBB, SAB versions
Text: Joseph Simpson Cook (1859 - 1933)
Published by: Canadian International Music, (Lorenz Corp.)
CIM 1015 (1997);
Retail: Sheetmusicplus; Cadenza One; J.W. Pepper; Amazon.com; Northwest Musical Services; Stanton's Music; Musical Resources Online; Musicmart;
Notes: This Christmas choral work is suitable for concert and/or church use and is published in four different voicings. In addition to the SSA, there are also settings for SATB (CIM 1004), SAB (CIM 1068) and TTBB (CIM 1069). Each piece begins with a mid-range solo (or section) followed by an a cappella verse two in four parts and a final verse in unison with a descant and powerful piano accompaniment. The first of the four pieces to be composed was the SATB in about1994 with the SSA version following soon afterwards. The SAB and TTBB settings were added in 2001. All of these can be obtained in North America thru the retailers J.W. Pepper and Sheetmusicplus.com. There are printed versions and instant downloads available thru both of these web-sites.
In 2005, Gentle Mary was translated into German and Dutch.  These are available thru the European Choral Club.
Gentle Mary laid her child
Lowly in a manger;
There he lay, the undefiled,
To the world a stranger,
Such a babe in such a place,
Can he be the Saviour?
Ask the saved of all the race
Who have found his favour.

Angels sang about his birth,
Wise men sought and found him;
Heaven's star shone brightly forth,
Glory all around him.
Shepherds saw the wondrous sight,
Heard the angels singing;
All the plains were lit that night,
All the hills were ringing.

Gentle Mary laid her child
Lowly in a manger,
He is still the undefiled,
But no more a stranger.
Son of God of humble birth,
Beautiful the story;
Praise his name in all the earth,
Hail the King of Glory.

Performed by: Ariose Women's Choir, Marilyn Kerley, conductor;
Performed by: The Bach Children's Chorus Chamber Youth Choir  (Toronto) (TTBB), Linda Beaupre, conductor
Performed by: The Connecticut Choral Artists (SATB), Richard Coffey, conductor
2 Comments

The Souls of the Righteous

2/10/2015

 
1) Voicing: TTBB a cappella
Text: Wisdom 3: 1-3
Published by: Cypress Choral Music
Notes: This work was composed in 1999 and first performed by Chor Leoni, Vancouver. It is the second of three settings that I have done of this particular text. The recording to the right was submitted by the choir as an entry for the 2002 CBC Choral Competition. It is conducted by the legendary Diane Loomer.  The text is a famous passage from the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom.
Performed by: Chor Leoni, Diane Loomer, C.M. conductor.
The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
There shall no torment touch them.
In the sight of the unwise, they seemed to die:
But they
are in peace.

Wisdom 3: 1, 2a, 3b
see the complete score at classica Music Publishers

2) Voicing: SATB a cappella
Published by: Cypress Choral Music, Vancouver CP 1075
Retail: J. W. Pepper; Foxes Music

Notes: This is an SATB scoring of the original TTBB version above. Text is identical but the ending is different. You may view this score at Cypress Choral Music.

Listen to Ensemble Phoebus of Montreal sing The Souls of the Righteous at CBC Music. This beautiful recording is from the 2015 CBC Choral Competition.
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