MUSIC FOR MIXED CHOIRS
A Divine Voice Sings Through All Creation
Boosey & Hawkes 48005179
Commissioned by the Music Ministry of First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in memory of our friend and fellow choir member, Robert Colegrove Meacham, Jr., 1947-2000
Voicing: SATB chorus with organ. Orchestral version by Ron Ellis. Full score and parts
available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,
David Brunner, conductor, September 15, 2002
Text: Jewish prayer
How wonderful, O Lord, are the works of your hands!
The heavens declare Your glory.
The arch of sky displays Your handiwork.
In Your love You have given us power
To behold the beauty of Your world.
Robed in all its splendor.
The sun, the stars, the valleys and hills,
The rivers and lakes all disclose Your presence.
The roaring breakers of the sea tell of Your awesome might.
The beasts of the field and the birds of the air
Bespeak Your wondrous will.
In Your goodness You have made us able to hear
the music of the world.
The voice of loved ones
Reveal to us that You are in our midst.
The commissioning of David Brunner to write a piece in memory of a fellow choir member was a great experience for the First United Methodist Church Chancel Adult Choir of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. David's suggested text and the way that he chose to set it was superb! he was sensitive in the creative ways that he used the voices with the aggressive organ accompaniment. The work was enthusiastically received by the choir from the very first rehearsal and was made even more special by a visit from the composer himself, who conducted the premiere. David's eagerness to learn of the choir's strengths, the church's acoustics, the organist's ability along with the organ's registration possibilities greatly assisted him in creating a work that is destined to make its mark in the world of church choral music.
Tim Ward, Director of Music
First United Methodist ChurchThe impetus of a new composition may come from many places and for a variety of reasons. The genesis of this piece was a person and the high regard in which he was held by his friends and colleagues. Robert Colegrove Meacham, Jr. was a member of the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I did not know him. I do know, however, that he loved to sing.
When first encountering this text I knew it was the right one. It speaks of music, of wonder, of praise, of celebration, of thankfulness -- all the things I suspected his friends might like to express. I was particularly drawn to the words "A divine voice sings through all creation" and wonder if they refer to the creator's voice or Robert's.
A Hymn to God the Father
(fromThree Sonnets of John Donne)
Boosey & Hawkes 48004611
For the Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 2'20"
First Performance: The Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor,
The King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, Florida, June 1992
Text: John Donne (1572-1631)
Wilt Thou forgive the sins where I begun
Which is my sin though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin through which I run
And do run still, though Still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done Thou hast not done,
For I have more.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin? and made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When Thou hast done Thou hast not done,
For I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore,
Swear by Thyself that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as He shines now and heretofore;
And having done that Thou hast done,
I fear no more.
These pieces, part of Doreen Rao's Conductor's Choice series, go far in achieving a goal of that series: "education through artistry." The seventeenth-century metaphysical poetry of John Donne evokes a sensitive musical response from David Brunner, who states that the three settings should be "performed together without pause."
The first selection begins with a chant-like opening given to baritone solo and divided bases in canon. The other parts also divide briefly throughout this piece. The central portion of the work is built on sequential repetition of five-note melodic cells, creating a haunting build to a climax in which the bass voice emerges with a powerful melody. A choir with good control of intonation and vibrato would serve this music well. The baritone solo part is not difficult but requires a solid f1.
"A Hymn to God the Father" uses the chanted phrase "God my Father" in varying tempos and repetitions to create a pedal-point or drone under a simple, flowing chant line. The soft dynamics and low tessituras (tenors and sopranos will need reinforcement from lower parts) create a mod of prayerful mystery. This piece would be most effective in a cathedral acoustic. At approximately five and one-half minutes, the third setting is the longest and most challenging of the set. The descriptive poetry of the last judgement summons a musical response that begins with voices imitating trumpet calls. Each part is required to negotiate a quick, octave leap on the word "blow". The modal writing and effective use of major and minor seconds instills a tension throughout the work that is not resolved until the final "amen" chord. The only problematic range is that of the bass part, which calls for some Ds and Es, as well as a final C. These could be sung an octave higher and should not detract from the use of this fine work by college ensembles or competent church choirs.
The Choral Journal
David Brunner's music is a voice easily distinguished from the crowd. Based on richly poignant texts, his inventive harmonies, fresh melodies and keen sense of structure make David's music immediately endearing. I have had the doubly distinct privilege of both commissioning Three John Donne Sonnets, We Are the Music Makers and the SATB version of O Music, and of recording the compact disc We Are The Music Makers: The Choral Music of David Brunner. From these collaborations, I can attest that David is among the preeminent compositional voices of the latter half of our century. David's music has the uncanny ability to soothe, excite, challenge, endear, and spiritually move both listener and performer. It is, without exception, the quintessential music of our time for the voice.
Jeff W. Reynolds, Music Director
International Cathedral Music FestivalThe writings of John Donne are expressions of one man's wrestling with human nature, illness, pain, doubt, faith, trust and hope. The texts of movements one and three are taken from the Holy Sonnets of 1609-10. The second movement's text was written during Donne's illness of 1623. All of this English metaphysical poetry's words are highly imaginative, evocative, personal and heartfelt. The Three Sonnets of John Donne are intended to be performed together without pause.
A Living Song
Boosey & Hawkes 48019360
In celebration of the 20h Anniversary of the Choral Music Experience Institute for Choral Teacher Education, York, England 2006, and Doreen Rao, good friend, Founder and Artistic Director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. Chamber orchestra version full score and parts
available from the publisher 48019360. (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 3’
First Performance: The Children's Chorus of San Antonio, Marguerite McCormick, conductor,
York, England, August 3, 2006; Orchestral version, the New Millennium Festival,
Doreen Rao, conductor, York, England, August 4, 2006.
Text: Joseph Freiherr von Eichendrorff (1788-1857) and a 19th c. rattle fragment from the
Northwest Canadian Coast
There is a song
Sleeping in all things that dream on and on,
And the world will awaken to sing
If only you can find the magic word.
-----
In your throat is a living song
A Living spirit song
His name is Long-Life-Maker
Yes I'm here to heal
With the healing ways
Of the Magic-of-the-Ground
The Magic-of-the-Earth
And you will spring to life
Through the power of the words
Through the Magic-of-the-Ground
The Magic-of-the-Earth
Order orchestral version parts
Kazuaki Tanahashi's performance painting on "A Living Song"
York, England, August 2006
This piece grew out of my love and admiration for Doreen Rao and what she has created with the CME Institute and series of publications through Boosey & Hawkes. Our friendship stretches back over twenty-five years and I have learned much from her about music and life, passion, authenticity and conviction, contemplation and reflection. This is a fitting gift for the 20th anniversary of the CME Institute.
My admiration extends to Marguerite McCormick and the Children's Chorus of San Antonio, who premiered this piece at the 2006 Institute in York, England, and with whom I have collaborated on a number of happy occasions. I thank them for their joyful music-making.
In addition, I have loved the text for which this piece is named and which was given to me some years ago by Doreen. It is a vision song found on a 19th century rattle fragment from the Northwest Canadian coast which was sung to a woman when she was sick: she then used it to cure others. I have wanted to set this for a long while and it was upon finding the additional poem of Joseph Freiherr von Eichendrorff that I sensed a natural connection between the two. The occasion of the CME anniversary and the long-held wish of Doreen and I to write an "anthem" of sorts for a wide community of singers converged as the perfect opportunity for this piece.
Sing with passion and conviction, contemplation and reflection.
A Music in the Air
TBA
Commissioned by the Bloomsburg University Choirs in loving memory of
Eileen Murphy Hower
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: Wendell Berry
Duration: c. 3'30"
First Performance:
A Timbered Choir
TBA
Commissioned for the singers of Exsultate!, Venice's Chorale, Stephen D. Johns, Artistic Director, Venice, Florida
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus with piano
Text: Wendell Berry
Duration: c. 4'30"
First Performance: Exsultate!, Stephen Johns, conductor, Venice, Florida, April 14, 2013
"Performing Dr. David Brunner's music is a spiritual experience. AMEN!"
“Dr. Brunner’s music sings itself.”
“Brunner wraps music around poetry with gentle sensitivity”
Singers' comments about the premiere.
Acceptance
Music 70 Music Publishers
For the Ft. Madison High School Chamber Singers, Allen Chapman, Director
Voicing: SATB a cappella chorus
Duration:
First Performance:
Text: Herbert Merrill
I have, perhaps, loved overmuch
the place, the person and the day,
And cannot now abide the touch of time
that takes them all away.
I have, perhaps, tried overhard
to bind quicksilver moments fast,
Stubborn enough to disregard
that nothing here can ever last.
I cannot catch the falling star
nor cup the fire in my hand,
Forbid the wintertime
or bar the tide from covering the sand,
And I have learned at biter cost
No man can find what he has lost.
After the Fire
Boosey & Hawkes 48004615
For the University of Central Florida Chorus
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 5'
First Performance: The University of Central Florida Chorus, David Brunner,
conductor, Orlando, Florida, April 1993
Text: Sandra Chapman
Where is the Lord, Elijah's Lord?
The prophet sought him in the wind.
He was not there.
The prophet sought him in the quake.
He was not there.
The prophet sought him in the fire.
He was not there.
But after the fire a still small voice.
My words fly in the wind, whirling as a cyclone,
crying to God's ears.
He is not there.
By body rocks with earthquake, lifting up my spirit,
pleading to God's eyes.
He is not there.
My soul melts in the fire, raging there within me,
yet reaching to God's hand.
He is not there.
But after the fire a still small voice.
And I, Elijah's kin,
after the wind, after the quake, after the fire
that forged my selfless flame of self,
hear in the silence a still small voice.
He is there!
After the Fire was written on an original text by music educator, poet, and friend Sandra Chapman. The repetitious, agitate nature of the words is echoed in insistent, rhythmic, whirling musical figures, which lead to a close of optimism and hope.
Again, again...
Walton Music (coming in 2024)
Voicing: SATB a cappella chorus
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Kazuaki Tanahashi (b. 1933)
Kurikaeshi, kurikaeshi, mata kurikaeshi.
Mune ni egaki tsu keshi tsu egaki tsu.
Again, again, and over again --
Picturing in my heart
erasing and picturing.
Again, again is an original poem by Kazuaki Tanahashi. He told me he wrote it in his thirties, so over fifty years ago, and still remembers where and when he was when it was written and who he had in mind. There is, obviously, a deep connection to this memory of time and place.
The poem is very short, a mere few words, yet conveys deep emotion of remembering and letting go, remembering and letting go.
My setting moves to and from the Japanese and English, circling back again and again. There is repetition of the musical material, as well, in an uncluttered texture.
All My Trials
Hope Publishing Company SP 778
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Bahamian Spiritual
If religion were a thing that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die.
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
Too late, my Brother!
Too late, but never mind.
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
Now hush little baby, don't you cry,
You know that man was born to die.
All my trials, Lord, soon be over.
A lush setting of this well-known and popular spiritual. Easily sung and effective.
All Thy Gifts of Love
Boosey & Hawkes 48020618
Commissioned by the Charlotte Latin School Music Department and dedicated to the Middle and Upper School Choral Departments, Mrs. Irene Pointon and Mr. Craig Estep, Conductors
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 3'10"
Text: Hunger Fund Committee, Diocese of Huron
with additional verses by the composer
For food in a world where many walk in hunger,
For peace in a world where many walk in fear,
For friends in a world where many walk alone,
We give you thanks, O God.
For health in a world where many walk in sickness,
For joy in a world where many walk in grief,
For friends in a world where many walk alone,
We give you thanks, O God.
For love in a world where many walk in anger,
Light in a world where many walk in darkness,
Friends in a world where many walk alone,
We give you thanks, O God.
For these and all the many things unspoken,
For gifts unknown or, as of yet, unseen.
For these and all thy gifts of love,
We give thee thanks, O God.
Verse 1: Diocese of Huron
Verses 2-4: David L. Brunner
Jean Ashworth Bartle sent the first verse of this poem in her Christmas greetings a year or so ago, and this small fragment was the inspiration for additional verses I added and for this setting of All Thy Gifts of Love for the 2005 Hillsborough County Fine Arts Festival in Tampa, Florida. “For these and all thy gifts of love” in the final verse is part of the family grace of Rev. Galen Russell, which I remember fondly.
It should be sung simply, in a moderate tempo.
Amazing Grace
Boosey & Hawkes 48005147
Commissioned by The Scottish Arts Council for The Stewarton Academy Choral Project, Mandy Miller, Director
Voicing: SATB and treble choruses with piano and flute
Duration: c. 5'
First Performance: 18 June 2002, Glasgow, Scotland, Mandy Miller, conductor
Text: John Newton (1725-1807)
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see.
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
We have already come
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
And Grace will lead us home.
His word my hope secures,
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see.
Few sacred songs are as universally known or loved as Amazing Grace. Because of its popularity and because it has been set so many times by contemporary composers, I have been reluctant to do so. A commission from my friend Mandy Miller in Scotland, however, was the inspiration for this new composition.
This piece is unusual for me in several ways. I've not composed much in what I would consider a "folk" idiom, but suppose I was thinking of something in that character when I decided on the new melody, a shapely contour composed of but a few gestures that repeat -- each verse an asymmetrical five phrases of four measures each. This odd number of phrases springs from the text, which is repeated in a way that's also unusual for me. I rarely repeat words at all, but found that by doing so here, new emphasis was placed on familiar words in a fresh way. The four lines of text are presented first in order, then repeated from the last line forward: fourth, third, first, second.
Each verse presents the text and melody in a similar way, though textures, voicing, accompaniment and interludes change. The final verse uses the traditional melody, slightly altered in character of the newly composed melody.
The piece was conceived for children's treble and adult mixed choruses, but could easily be performed with a large mixed chorus, with the women dividing among the SATB and treble textures. The instrumental obligato was originally conceived for flute, but Mandy suggested Scot's fiddle, which I can imagine as a colorful and appropriate accompaniment.
The Apple Tree
Boosey & Hawkes 48023940
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'25"
First Performance: The University of Central Florida Chamber Singers, David L. Brunner, conductor, St. James Cathedral, Orlando, FL, December 3, 2015
Text: Anonymous, 18th century
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit, and always green;
The trees of nature fruitless be,
Compar'd with Christ the Appletree.
This beauty doth all things excel,
By faith I know, but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see,
In Jesus Christ the Appletree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought;
I miss'd of all; but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the Appletree.
I'm weary'd with my former toil—
Here I will sit and rest awhile,
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the Appletree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the Appletree.
At the Round Earth's Imagined Corners
(from Three Sonnets of John Donne)
Boosey & Hawkes 48004612
For the Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus a cappella (also available for tenor/bass chorus)
Duration: c. 5'30"
First Performance: The Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor,
The King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, Florida, June 1992
Text: John Donne (1572-1631)
At the round earth's imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels; and arse, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go;
All whom the flood did, and fire shall, o'erthrow.
All whom war, death, age, agues, tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance hath slain and you whose eyes
Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe.
But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space;
For, if above all these, my sins abound,
"Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace,
When we are there. Here on this lowly ground,
Teach me how to repent; for that's as good
As if Thou hadst sealed my pardon with Thy blood.
See listing under "A Hymn to God the Father" for annotation.
Batter My Heart, Three Personed God
(from Three Sonnets of John Donne)
Boosey & Hawkes 48004610
For the Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, Director
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 3'30"
First Performance: The Schola Cantorum of Florida, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor,
The King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, Florida, June 1992
Text: John Donne (1572-1631)
See listing under "A Hymn to God the Father" for annotation
Benedicto
TBA
Commissioned by The Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) for the International Honor Band and Choir Festival 2006, Waterloo, Belgium
Voicing: SATB chorus with symphonic wind ensemble
Text: Edward Abbey (1927-1989)
Duration: c. 10'
First Performance: International Honor Band and Choir Festival, David L. Brunner,
conductor, Waterloo, Belgium, March 18, 2006
Benedicto is a dramatic, ten minute work, on an evocative text by environmentalist Edward Abbey. We tend to think of a Benediction as a blessing of good things. This text, however, begins with the words "May your trails be crooked, winding, dangerous..." The journey continues through pastoral valleys, temples, castles, poet's towers, mysterious swamps, deserts of red rock and grottos of endless stone, "and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm". The destination, however, is "where something strange and beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you". The orchestration is colorful and features an extended percussion section. This is an important contribution to the band and chorus literature.
Blest By Everything
Boosey & Hawkes 48019690
For The Florida Voices in celebration of their 10th Anniversary
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: the Florida Voices, David L. Brunner, conductor, Holley Hall,
Sarasota, Florida, February 19, 2006
Text: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.
This commission celebrates the tenth anniversary of The Florida Voices in Sarasota, Florida, long time friends and colleagues. The occasion of a milestone anniversary seems to be a fitting occasion for reflection and gratefulness.
The text speaks of gratitude and contentedness, and also of self-acceptance, the ability to look at our past and present actions and thoughts and forgive ourselves for all of them. When we let go of remorse, a great sweetness flows into our inner being and we are freed to laugh and sing. There's a sense of release, of letting go, in the awareness that all things bring blessing. This seemed an appropriate text for The Florida Voices' journey, the completion of a decade together, and the anticipation of future years of laughter and singing.
Sing in an unhurried way, let the words resonate, and allow your spirit to laugh and sing.
Brainstorm
Boosey & Hawkes 48022971
Commissioned for the Mississippi ACDA All-State Honor Choir
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'08"
First Performance: Mississippi ACDA All-State Honor Choir, David Brunner, conductor
Text: Scott Lounsbury
Heart beats, breath catches,
Pupils pop as image flashes
Blood pounds, neurons trip,
Imagination starts to flip;
Celebration, cellular;
Fluttering, ventricular,
Watch as the excitement takes you leaping to the sky!
Pulses rushing, faces flushing,
Joy explodes like geysers gushing.
Now you know the freeing feeling:
Soaring as of eagles reeling!
Rushing of adrenaline,
Where you're going, where you've been,
Careening underneath you as you spread your
arms and fly!
So the thrill, the trumpet trill,
Of catching meaning's meaning 'til
The consciousness gains knowing
And the brain cells start to glowing --
Teeming, as of populations
Many thoughts through many nations
Offer you a target for your eager heart to try.
Brainstorm building, new thoughts crashing,
Bold ideas in lightning flashing,
Brightening your vision, seeing
Bold new ways of living, being.
Rhythmic impulse: generation,
Magic fire of your creation!
Go, and build the world envisioned clear in your
mind's eye!
As Mississippi ACDA All State chair, I was delighted when David Brunner agreed to be our conductor for 2013. I immediately commissioned a work by him that he would premiere with the 28th annual All State. Using a poem by Scott Lounsbury, called “Brainstorm,” David put the notes and rhythms to make an imagery of developing thoughts and ideas in our minds. The combination of his exciting music with the text is brilliant. The piano accompaniment magnifies the intent feeling of thoughts going in and out of our minds. The performance of the All State singing this piece was spectacular! The audience’s response to this piece was moving and ended with a standing ovation. The joy felt by the singers with the opportunity of a premier work under the direction of the composer was seen very vividly on their faces. “Brainstorm” is a wonderful addition to the repertoire of such a talented composer and conductor. It is definitely a piece full of excitement to be enjoyed by singers and audience.
Donna McCommon
Mississippi ACDA All State Honor Choir
I take delight in Scott Lounsbury’s poems, so turned to him with a request for this commission for the 2013 Mississippi ACDA All-State Honor Choir. I wanted something about creativity and in a few short days he delivered Brainstorm – a tour de force of whirling images, imaginative turns of phrase and a rhythmic insistency that doesn’t stop. Everything I wanted! On first reading, bits of rhythm suggested themselves and I rushed to scribble them down. There’s an angularity about this, an urgency, a playfulness, an electricity, a propulsion (though steady, without rushing). The piano accompaniment is vital, mostly dry except where pedaling is indicated and then specific with regard to clarity of release. The singing should be energized, full of vibrancy, with excruciatingly clear diction and a vocal enthusiasm for the way these words roll off the tongue.
Caminante
Walton Music WW1795
For the Youth in Strathmore Children's Chorus, Michael Wu, Artistic Director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano, egg shaker and claves.
Duration: c. 3'30"
First Performance: The Strathmore Children's Choruses, Michael Wu, conductor, Strathmore, North Bethesda, Maryland, June 10, 2018
Text: Antonio Machado (1875 - 1939)
Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look backyou see the path
you will never travel again.Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship's wake on the sea.
Proverbs and Songs 29, Campos de Castilla (1912)
Michael Wu, Artistic Director
Cantate Domino
Boosey & Hawkes 48005030
For Betty Mullett with appreciation and thanks from the students and parents of the Riverview High School Chorus
Voicing: SATB chorus and piano. Brass and timpani version set of parts #48020640.
Orchestral version by Ron Ellis. Full score and parts available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 3'25"
First Performance: Florida Ambassadors of Music European Concert Tour,
David Brunner, conductor, June 2002
Text: Psalm 95 (96):1-4
Cantate Domino canticum novum,
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Cantate Domino omnis terra,
Sing to the Lord all the earth!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord and bless his name;
Proclaim his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his wonders among all people.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised.
This festive and dance-like original composition is a celebration of song on the traditional text from Psalm 95. Latin and English lyrics alternate through vibrant meter changes and leaping melodic lines, all within sensible vocal ranges and an eighth-note constant inner rhythm. A tapestry of joyful sounds for more capable choirs.
J. W. Pepper & Sun, Inc.
"Singing a new song" happens each time we approach a new piece. This setting of the familiar Cantate Domino text is full of rhythmic vitality and forward momentum. It should be sung with wenergy and crackling clarity, declamatory and joyful. Enjoy the playful metrical surprises.
Chantons, mes AMIS
TBA
For the Symphonic Choir of Smoky Hill High School and director Mike Grant for performance at the 2010 Colorado Music Educators' Association Conference.
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano.
Duration: c. 4'30"
First Performance: The 2019 AMIS choir festival, Beijing, China
Text: Scott Lounsbury
I
Voices of the world
gather, young and old,
singing all together,
Friends.
Tongues of many lands,
tumbling, whirling sounds,
harmony unfolding,
Friends.
Chantons, mes amis. (French)
Chaloh amar Bundu. (Bangla)
Lass uns singen, meine Freunde. (German)
II
Cultures far and wide,
sounds from many towns,
singing with each other:
Friends
Leave aside divisiions,
concentrate on breath,
bound'ry-crossing choir:
Friends.
Chantons, mes amis. (French)
Cantiamo, amici miei. (Italian)
Kawan-kawan saya, (Malay)
bernyanyi.
III
Rang women changge
wo de pengyoumen (Chinese)
Beijing to Berlin:
friends.
As tragoudisoume,
filoi mou; (Greek)
come join us.
Show the world we can be
Friends.
Chantons, mes amis (French)
Ann chante, zanmi m. (Haitian Creole)
Watashinotomodachi: (Japanese)
Friends.
Nae chingudeul (Korean)
oku hoa (Maori)
Friends.
The Circles of Our Lives
Boosey & Hawkes 48023331
For the Symphonic Choir of Smoky Hill High School and director Mike Grant for performance at the 2010 Colorado Music Educators' Association Conference.
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. (also available for treble chorus and tenor/bass chorus)
Instrumental version full score and parts (fl, ob, cl, bsn,
st qt and piano) and string orchestra version available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Symphonic Choir of Smoky Hill High School, Mike Grant,
conductor, Colorado Music Educators' Association Conference, January 2010.
String orchestra version premiered at Carnegie Hall May 28, 2011, conducted by David
Brunner.
Text: Wendell Berry (b. 1934)
Within the circles of our lives
we dance the circles of the years,
the circles of the seasons
within the circles of the years,
the cycles of the moon
within the circles of the seasons,
the circles of our reasons
within the cycles of the moon.
Again, again we come and go,
changed, changing. Hands
join, unjoin in love and fear,
grief and joy. The circles turn,
each giving into each, into all.
Only music keeps us here,
each by all the others held.
In the hold of hands and eyes
we turn in pairs, that joining,
joining each to all again.
And then we turn aside, alone,
out of the sunlight gone
into the darker circles of return.
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
I first heard the treble version of The Circles of Our Lives at its premiere as the Raymond Brock Memorial Composition in Orlando, FL in 2000. Three and a half years later, I had a hand in getting David to do the TTBB setting of the piece for the Turtle Creek Chorale of Dallas, and when my mixed choir was selected for the 2010 Colorado Music Educators Association conference, I convinced him of making a mixed chorus version for us to premiere at the event.
Working with David again was an immense pleasure, and I was so thrilled at how deftly he yet again transformed this beautiful piece into a new work. The mixed setting offers some new lush harmonies, and like all of David’s re-voicings of earlier works, presents itself as virtually a new piece. My choir absolutely loved singing and performing this piece, interpreting the text as their own personal journey in our choir program at Smoky Hill High School. The recording on this page is from a very emotionally-charged performance, and the Senior members of the choir sang this piece as they were coming to realize that the circle of their ‘high school choir lives’ was coming to a close, and they are embarking on their next singing cycle as they move on to college. The experience with this piece this year was one of the highlights of my teaching career, and something that I know my students will carry with them always!
Mike Grant
Smoky Hill High School
Aurora, CO
My love for Wendell Berry's poetry dates back ten years when I chose this text for the 2000 ACDA Raymond W. Brock Commission for children's chorus. Since then it has been rescored for four part men's chorus, premiered and recorded by the Turtle Creek Chorale, Timothy Seelig, conductor, and this mixed chorus version, which was suggested by Mike Grant and written for his choir, the Symphonic Choir of Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado. It premiered in January 2010 at the Colorado Music Educators Association conference.
There is also an instrumental arrangement for solo winds, string quartet and piano, which was written for the Young Women's Chorus of Kentucky, Rob Paugh, director, and premiered by them at the Kentucky Music Educators association conference in Louisville in 2002.
I am touched by Berry's contemplative voice and the inspirational nature and reverence in each and every word, a profound sincerity and respect for the wonder of life and the circles that bring it round.
Cloth of Glory
Boosey & Hawkes 48019258
Commissioned by the Zeta Tau chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota and the Mu Eta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at the University of Central Florida. Dedicated to all those who rise from the ashes.
Voicing: SATB chorus, cello and piano.
String orchestra version also available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 5'
First Performance: American Composer's Recital, David Brunner, conductor,
Melissa Kraut, cello, Orlando, Florida, April 14, 2003.
Text: Mike Harding, A Little Book of Stained Glass
So the glass took hold of the light
And spun it with threads of the cobalt sky,
And the ruby floss of the dying sun.
Then with a shuttle of lead calms,
A weft of pot metal
And a warp of molten sand and ash,
It wove the brittle, fragile cloth of glory.
Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham
Rodney Wynkoop, conductor
It is not often that composers have the opportunity to write a piece for people they know well and who are part of their everyday lives. When such opportunities arise, the collaboration is often special and serendipitous.
Such was the case when the sisters of the Zeta Tau chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota and the brothers of the Mu Eta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at the University of Central Florida asked me to write a new work for their American Composers concert in the spring of 2003. These were my students, and soon to be collaborators and performers. What a privilege and pleasure.
Their initial idea was to commission a piece to honor all those involved in and affected by the circumstances revolving around September 11th -- all of us in one way or another. They wanted a song of mending, of rising from the ashes. This little poem from Mike Harding's A Little Book of Stained Glass seemed to me to reflect their sentiments. Indirectly, yet in a powerful way, these few words speak of forging something new and beautiful and radiant out of bits of lead, molten sand and ash. Out of the fire, the tribulation, shines the brittle, fragile cloth of glory. There is an emotional progression from the somewhat austere beginning, through a sense of hopefulness and expectancy, and finally warmth and assurance as the glass "takes hold of the light".
The text speaks of weaving this cloth, and in that regard the cello and voices are woven in and out of each other's musical ideas. They should be equal partners in this musical fabric. Sing and play to each other. The singing should be lyrical, the angular lines effortless. Make the words ring true, the singing expressive of the text.
Creator of the Stars of Night
TBA
Voicing: Unison voices with piano
Original melody: Conditor alme siderium, 9th c.
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Conditor alme siderum, 9th c., trans. J. M. Neale (1818 - 1866)
Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people's everlasting light.
O Christ, thou Saviour of us all,
We pray thee, hear us when we call.
And when the world drew on toward night,
Thou camest, not in splendor bright
As monarch, but the humble child
Of Mary, blameless mother mild.
To God, the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Laud, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.
The Dodger
Boosey & Hawkes 48004911
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 2'
Text: Traditional Campaign Song
Yes the candidate’s a dodger, yes and I’m a dodger too.
He’ll meet you and treat you and ask you for your vote
But look out boys he’s a dodgin’ for a note,
Yes we’re all dodgin’, a dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin
Yes we’re all dodgin’ out away through the world
Yes the preacher he’s a dodger, yes a well known dodger,
Yes the preacher he’s a dodger yes and I’m a dodger too.
He’ll preach you a gospel and tell you of your crimes
But look out boys he’s a dodgin’ for your dimes,
Yes we’re all dodgin’, a dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin
Yes we’re all dodgin’ out away through the world
Yes the lover he’s a dodger, yes a well known dodger,
Yes the lover he’s a dodger yes and I’m a dodger too.
He’ll hug you and kiss you and call you his bride
But look out girls he’s a tellin’ you a lie.
Yes we’re all dodgin’, a dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin
Yes we’re all dodgin’ out away through the world
Order the Complete Old American Songs for SATB chorus
SATB adaptation of solo song from Copland's Old American Songs for Boosey & Hawkes Copland 2000 Series. Orchestral version parts available on rental from the publisher.
Down in Yon Forest
Shawnee Press A-1707 (POP)
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 2'15'
Recording: University of Illinois Graduate Choral, Harold Decker, conductor.
Text: Traditional English Carol
Down in yon forest there stands a hall:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
It's covered all over with purple and pall
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
In that hall there stands a bed:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
It's covered all over with scarlet so red:
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
At the bed-side there lies a stone:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
Which the sweet Virgin Mary knelt upon:
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
Under that bed there runs a flood:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
The one half runs water, the other runs blood:
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
At the bed's foot there grows a thorn:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
Which ever blows blossom since he was born:
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
Over that bed the moon shines bright:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
Denoting our Saviour was born this night:
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
E Pluribus Cantus
Boosey & Hawkes 48021223
For singers of the Matiland Middle School, Winter Park High School, and University of Central Florida choirs, for their Virtual Choir Project, 2011
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano.
Duration: c. 2'25"
First Performance: Maitland Middle School, Winter Park High School and University of
Central Florida choirs, David L. Brunner, conductor, Winter Park High School,
Winter Park, FL, December 14, 2011.
Text: Scott Lounsbury
The band of singers take their places,
energy gives life to faces
straining for the cue to free their song.
Each voice is only one, but single
solitary voices mingle:
each small voice collects to one voice, strong.
How powerful the songs of many
are, when joined together, than any
solo calling in the night.
When one note shapes the notes of others
each song blends with one another's --
chorus song can make a dark world bright.
E Pluribus Cantus:
Let all our voices blend
E Pluribus Cantus:
let gathered voices find a friend
E Pluribus Cantus:
together, a chorus strong.
We're singing our choices
by joining our voices --
From many, comes one song.
So too, when we our voices blend,
make songs whose power never ends,
with strength to banish crippling fears.
The hope that comes from choral song
can last musicians' lifetimes long,
the echoes ringing clearly through the years.
Communities ringing
Each voice joined in singing
From many, comes one song.
In the summer of 2011 my colleagues Lori Lovell at Maitland Middle School and Matthew Swope at Winter Park High School approached me with the idea that we should collaborate on a joint recording and performance project that would involve middle, high school and college singers in a virtual choir environment, similar to Eric Whitacre’s YouTube sensation of a year ago. It would differ, however, in that it would be local and “vertical” in nature, embracing the youngest, emerging and mature singers. What began as a casual conversation over coffee at Starbucks quickly took shape and form, when Tom Todia, the Course Director of Game Sound at Full Sail University (one of the premier art, music, and film schools in the word) came onboard to facilitate the software for recording and manipulating individual student audio and video. We wanted a piece that was age and skill appropriate for the youngest singers, yet captured the imagination of the older ones, and a text that told the story of our project and was one that every singer could identify with. It seemed that the best way for this to happen was to write a new piece!
I contacted my friend, musician and poet Scott Lounsbury in New Hampshire, to see if he had anything that might fit the unique nature of the project and two days later he delivered E Pluribus Cantus, a tremendous text about coming together from many places to form one voice, written just for us. It took just another two days to compose. Many happy circumstances converged with good friend Lynn Peghiny agreeing to play the piano track, former Winter Park High School student Gabe Gundacker launching a documentary video project about the collaboration, and plans for a combined live performance that would showcase the video release, and a session for the Florida Vocal Association at the state FMEA conference.
This project captured the imaginations of our students, brought technology into our choral classrooms in a very real way, initiated partnership between the public schools, University of Central Florida and Full Sail University, and united younger and older singers of generation Y in a way they had not experienced before. Communities ringing, each voice joined in singing.
The text of E Pluribus Cantus has a strong rhythm, bold architecture, and sturdy refrain. The setting is quite syllabic, so care should be taken to shape the phrases with precise but expressive singing, emphasizing the heavy-light nature of the word stress. The refrain is strong and firm. The choral textures moves often from unison to parts, from a single voice to many. There are some long phrases, and a number of possibilities with regard to breath marks and shaping the phrase. Finding a tempo that allows the phrases to sing without feeling rushed, and at the same time managing the breath, is vital.
Scott Lounsbury has artfully captured what it feels like to be a singer in a chorus.
E Pluribus Cantus is an anthem to bands of empowered singers everywhere – from many, comes one song!
Eagle Poem
Boosey & Hawkes 48004881
For the Singers of New Canaan Country School and their director Marsha Whitman
Voicing: SAB chorus with piano and oboe
Duration: c. 3'20"
First Performance: New Canaan Country School, New Canaan, Connecticut,
David L. Brunner, conductor, May 26, 1999
Text: Joy Harjo
Wisconsin Chamber Choir
Robert Gehrenbeck, conductor
There is no way to simply characterize David Brunner's music! Each composition takes on a significantly different aspect, depending on the text... His choice of texts is remarkable. He is as comfortable with the poignant poem of a ten year old (Winter Changes) as he is with the sonnets of John Donne. Brunner is clearly a significant contemporary American choral composer, and for both variety of texts and beauty of choral sound, he is unsurpassed.
Marsha Whitman
New Canaan Country SchoolThis exquisite and evocative text by Joy Harjo is another of the Native American poems that have attracted me for the past few years. It speaks of beauty, of openness, of movement, of knowledge, of reverence, of prayerfulness, of authenticity. Our identity is with the eagle -- its circles of motion reflect the circles of our lives, the circles of our knowing.
Unison passasges should reflect the natural inflection of the text. Make it sing the way it speaks. Your singing should be unaffected and earnest, and should evoke the vivid moods and pictures of the words.
Earthsongs
Boosey & Hawkes 48019685
I The World is Full of Poetry
II In Safety and Bliss
III We Join with the Earth and with Each Other
Voicing: SATB chorus with oboe and piano. Orchestral version full score and
parts on rental from the publisher. (also available for treble chorus)
Text: James Gates Percival; Buddhist from the Sutta Nipata; United National
Environmental Sabbath Program
Duration: c. 9'
First Performance: Carnegie Hall, New York, New York, David L. Brunner,
conductor, March 25, 2007
I. The World is Full of Poetry
James Gates Percival
The world is full of poetry --
The air is living with its spirit;
And the waves dance to the music of its melodies,
And sparkle in its brightness.
II. In Safety and in Bliss
Sutta Nipata
In safety and in bliss
May all creatures be of a blissful heart
Whatever breathing beings there may be
Frail or firm... long or big... short or small...
Seen or unseen, dwelling far or near,
Existing or yet seeking to exist
May all creatures be of a blissful heart
III. We Join With the Earth
United Nations Environmental Sabbath Program
We join with the earth and with each other.
To bring new life to the land
To restore the waters
To refresh the air
We join with the earth and with each other.
To renew the forests
To care for the plants
To protect the creatures
We join with the earth and with each other.
To celebrate the seas
To rejoice in the sunlight
To sing the song of the stars
We join with the earth and with each other.
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
Kazuaki Tanahashi's performance painting on "The World Is Full Of Poetry"
York, England, August 2006
Earthsongs is a group of three pieces, intended to be performed without pause. The texts speak of the wonders of nature and of the importance of protecting the animals, caring for the plants and nurturing one another. The World is Full of Poetry is a text by the 19th century geologist James Gates Percival. It should be sung simply and with feeling. In Safety and Bliss is a Buddhist writing from the Sutta Nipata. It should be sung solemnly, in chant-like character. The two-part antiphonal section from measure 88 to the end should be treated as an echo effect. We Join with the Earth is a text from the United Nations Environmental Sabbath Program. It is a litany with the refrain "We Join with the Earth and with Each Other" prominent. The broadly arching melodies should be sung with shape and momentum.
The original treble version was commissioned by Keynote Arts Associates for the Children in Harmony Choral Festival, Barbara Tagg, Artistic Director, and premiered at EPCOT in Orlando, Florida, in 1996. The mixed chorus version premiered at Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2007, conducted by the composer.
Ecstatic Songs
TBA
Dedicated to the Courth Coast Ensemble in memory of Wayland Rogers
I All I Was Doing Was Breathing
II Don't Go!
III Mira Has Finished With Waiting
Voicing: SATB chorus with cello, tabla and percussion
Text: Mirabai (1498 - 1547)
Duration: c. 13'40"
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
Endless Song
TBA
Commissioned by the Mary Margaret Heath Choral Music Endowment for the Chancel Choir of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Josh Phelps, Director of Worship and Music
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano and optional string quartet.
Original melody by Robert Wadsworth Lowry (1826-1899)
Text: Unattributed
Duration: c. 4'
Endless Song
TBA
Voicing: SAB chorus with piano
Original melody by Robert Wadsworth Lowry (1826-1899)
Duration: c. 4'
Text: Unattributed
My life flows on in endless song;
above earth's lamentation,
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing.
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
While though the tempest loudly roars
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?
I lift my eyes, the cloud grows thick;
I see the blue above it,
And day by day this pathway smoothes
since first I learned to love it.
The peace of love makes fresh my heart,
a fountain everspringing;
All things are mine in love and joy!
How can I keep from singing?
My life goes on in endless song
above earth's lamentation.
I hear the sweet, though far off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing.
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
For Spacious Skies
Boosey & Hawkes 48004713
For the 1996 North Carolina Middle School All-State Chorus, David L. Brunner, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. Orchestral version by Ron Ellis. Full score and
parts available on rental from the composer.
Original Tune: Seldon Paul Short
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The North Carolina Middle School All-State Chorus, David L. Brunner,
conductor, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, November 10, 1996;
Orchestral premiere, The Young Singers Festival Chorus, David L. Brunner, conductor,
Carnegie Hall, New York, New York, June 27, 1999
Text: Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929)
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern, impassioned stress
a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.
O beautiful for heroes proved more liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!
America! America! may God thy gold refine,
till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine.
O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
You and your piece made a great impact on North Carolina. For Spacious Skies is a stunning piece, especially for patriotic occasions, and would bring the crowd to their fee. It did in North Carolina!
Kathryn Sauls, Jr. High/Middle School Chairperson
North Carolina Music Educators AssociationDr. Brunner led the 1996 NC Middle School/Junior High Honors Chorus in an exciting and invigorating program. His selections were technically challenging as well as culturally diverse. The commissioned piece, For Spacious Skies, was truly elegant with a rich and sumptuous piano accompaniment. It was a rendition that stirred the senses, uplifted the soul and made you proud to be an American.
Treda Berry, Jr. High/Middle School Chairperson
North Carolina Music Educators AssociationThis sturdy setting of the text to America the Beautiful gives way to a tender rendition of the traditional turn, then combines both melodies before concluding with a powerful "from sea to shining sea".
J.W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
For Spacious Skies is a fresh arrangement of a familiar patriotic text. The lovely new tune by Paul Short is a lyric and expansive melody, particularly well-suited for the voice, while the appearance of the original tune by Samuel Ward and the juxtaposition of the two in the final verse lends a feeling of familiarity.
The vocal lines should be sung with conviction and warmth, the piano accompaniment strong and sturdy.
Future Dream
TBA
In celebration of the 25th anniversary season of Cantate Carlisle and for their youth choir, Cantate Cum Spiritum!, Cheryl H. Parsons and DeLeigh Wilson, directors
Voicing: SATB and treble choruses with oboe and piano.
Text: Scott Lounsbury
Duration: c. 3' 20"
First Performance: Cantate Carlisle and Cantate Cum Spiritum, Cheryl H. Parsons, conductor, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, May 2 and 3, 2015
As a director, I value the time Dr. Brunner took to find the perfect text for our concert and then to set it so suitably to be the final piece on an already inspiring program. Future Dream is a perfect pairing of inspirational text and uplifting music that totally engaged the audience, and the soaring melody, colorful harmonies, and nuances of tempo stayed with me for weeks afterward. The piece is very accessible yet has much more depth, both musically and textually, than most pieces written with this in mind. The juxtaposition of young and mature vocal qualities literally singing about a dream that can be shared by young and old alike deeply affected me on an emotional level when we finally put the piece together.... a real Norman Rockwell moment that I strive to create in our combined concerts. I think the audience was attuned to this as well.
Cheryl H. Parsons, conductor
Cantate Carlisle
The Gift to Sing
TBA
Commissioned by the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton, Bruce Borton, Artistic Director, in celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary Season
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
Duration: c. 4'30"
First Performance: The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton, Bruce Borton, conductor, April 29, 2018, Binghamton, NY
Grand is the Seen
Boosey & Hawkes 48020952
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. Full orchestra version by Ron Ellis. Full score and
parts available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: National Festival Chorus and orchestra, David L. Brunner, conductor,
Carnegie Hall, New York, New York, May 23, 2009
Text: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Grand is the seen, the light, to me --
grand are the sky and stars,
Grand is the earth, and grand are lasting
time and space.
And grand their laws, so multiform,
puzzling, evolutionary;
But grander far the unseen soul of me,
comprehending, endowing all those,
Lighting the light, the sky and stars,
delving the earth, sailing the sea,
(What were all those, indeed, without thee,
unseen soul? Of what amount without thee?)
More evolutionary, vast, puzzling,
O my soul!
More multiform far -- more lasting thou than they.
These words of American poet Walt Whitman are strong and sturdy, and have a majesty and nobility about them. The grandness of the phrases "lasting time and space" and "the sky and stars" are awe inspiring, but grander still is "the unseen soul of me". You will find similar strength and sturdiness in the music, bringing a feeling of fanfare and celebration, but also in contrast, moments of reflection and lyricism. The textures are clear and uncluttered, allowing the voices to produce a ringing resonance. Sing with full voice and display your own sense of nobility and majesty.
The original version, scored for men's chorus, was commissioned for the 150th anniversary of Koninkliijke Zangverenigning Nejmeegs Mannenkoor, Dion Ritten, conductor, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands' oldest city, and premiered on November 30, 2008. This mixed chorus version was arranged for performance in Carnegie Hall and orchestrated by Ron Ellis. David Brunner conducted the premiere on May 23, 2009, with choirs from Florida, Arkansas and California.
Hallelujah from the Heart of God
TBA
For my friends and colleagues Dianna Campbell, Seminole State College, Robert Lamb, Eastern Florida State College, and Alan Gerber, Valencia College and their singers for Choral Fest 2019
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: Christopher Smart (1722 - 1771)
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: The choirs of Seminole State College, Eastern Florida State College, Valencia College, and the University of Central Florida, David L. Brunner, conductor, Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Winter Park, FL, February 21, 2019
High Flight
Boosey & Hawkes 48024254
Commissioned for the 20th Anniversary Season of The Village Voices Chorus (The Villages, Florida), Dr. John T. Lowe, Jr., conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 5'
First Performance: The Village Voices Chorus, John T. Lowe, conductor, The Villages, FL
Text: John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922 - 1941)
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings:
Sunward I've climbed, and joined
the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, -- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and
soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air...
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew --
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr. lived just 19 years. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force when the Spitfire VZ-H he was flying was descending at high speed through a break in the clouds and collided mid-air with an Airspeed Oxford trainer, just below the cloud base at 1,400 feet over the hamlet of Roxholme, Liincolnshire, England. His popular poem High Flight desribes the delirious feeling of wheeling and soaring, and an intimate connection with the divine.
Hold Fast Your Dreams
Boosey & Hawkes 48023656
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 2’20"
Text: Louise Driscoll (1875-1957)
Hold fast your dreams!
Within your heart
Keep one still, secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And, sheltered so,
May thrive and grow
Where doubt and fear are not.
O keep a place apart,
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go!
See listing under Treble version above for annotation.
I Am in Need of Music
Boosey & Hawkes 48019254
Dedicated to the memory of David Nott, Director of Choral Activities, Illinois Wesleyan University, 1964-1995
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. (also available for treble chorus and tenor/bass chorus) Chamber orchestra version full score and parts available from the publisher 48019973
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir, J. Scott Ferguson,
conductor, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois, April 9, 2006
Text: Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) Sonnet
I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song, sung to rest the tired dead.
A song to fall like water on my head.
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.
Texas All-State Mixed Chorus
Sandra Snow, conductor
Watch Peformance Video of Orchestra Version
Order orchestral version parts
I Am in Need of Music was written as a memorial to David Nott, long-time director of choral activities at Illinois Wesleyan University. In honoring Nott, Brunner, one of David's former students, has written a lush, lyrical setting of a poem by Elizabeth Bishop that will appeal to a wide audience. The text speaks eloquently of the power of music to soothe and comfort, and Brunner's setting matches the eloquence of the words with delicate, sensitive gestures and effective word painting.
J. Scott Ferguson, Director of Choral Activities
Illinois Wesleyan UniversityAn extremely sensitive setting of an extraordinarily beautiful poem. This is the sort of piece that speaks directly to the heart of the singer and the listener.
David C. Rayl, Director of Choral Programs
Michigan State UniversityI was a student of David Nott at Illinois Wesleyan University, so when asked to write a work in his memory, it was both an honor and humbling experience. i remember him as a very tall man with a profound bass voice, an elegant conducting technique, a quick wit, and an engaging manner as a conductor and performer. He was an inspiration for me.
This was not an easy piece to write, as I wanted it to be so many things to so many people. i felt I was writing it for him, for his wife Anne, his children, the Collegiate Choir, for us -- his former students -- and for the singers in all our choirs who didn't know him, but may be touched in some way by this music. The process started -- and stopped -- many times. In the end I wrote music that is reflective, lush and lyrical, with the text always foremost.
I have been attracted to Elizabeth Bishop's Sonnet for some time. Each phrase seems to sing itself off the page: "I am in need of music that would flow over my fretful, feeling finger-tips"; "O for the healing swaying, old and low, of some song, sung to rest the tired dead"; "There is a magic made by melody"; "Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep". These seem appropriate words for David Nott, his family, and the extended community of his former students.
I Dream A World
Boosey & Hawkes 48023334
Commissioned by the Trouveres of All Saints Church, Pasadena, California, Stephanie Mowery, Director
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Trouveres of All Saints Church, Stephanie Mowery, Director,
Pasadena, California, April 20, 2008
Text: Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!
Festival Singers of Florida
Kevin Fenton, conductor
I Dream A World is a beautifully crafted setting of the Langston Hughes poem I Dream A World. Commissioned by the Middle School and Mixed Ensemble Trouveres of All Saints Church on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of All Saints, Pasadena, California, the youth were immediately engaged by David's gift for writing soaring melodies and rich textures wedded to a profound text. David's interaction with our young singers at the premiere was inspiring and a highlight of our choir season. This piece is a wonderful and very successful addition to David's repertoire for Middle School and High School singers.
Stephanie Mowery
Director of Children's and Youth Choirs
All Saints Church, Pasadena, California
All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California is a vital and dynamic parish and a congregation called to social responsibility and action. When the opportunity arose to write a piece for the Trouveres youth choir, in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the church, the words of Langston Hughes came immediately to mind as an appropriate text for the occasion and the people of All Saints.
All Saints church is committed to inclusive language, so we carefully considered Hughes' words "every man in free." To honor these words in historical context and remain true to his poem, we decided to keep the original text. The implication, of course, is that this dream of freedom embraces us all.
The setting is largely syllabic, but the rhythm should not interrupt the flow of the melody line. Sing groupings of words and let the language shape the contours of the melodic phrases. The text and its meaning are most important.
Sing as though your dream can make a difference.
I See the Universe
Boosey & Hawkes 48004802
For the Traverse City East Junior High Symphonic Chorus, Wendee Wolf-Schlarf, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 2'05"
First Performance: The Traverse City East Junior High Symphonic Chorus,
David L. Brunner, guest conductor, Traverse City, Michigan, March 15, 1998
Text: High Eagle, Osage/Cherokee Tribes
Look, I see the sun
He is my Father
He is my beginning
Look, I see the moon
she is my Grandmother
my guardian keeper
Look, I see the stars
they are my friends,
my relatives
Look, I see the universe
I see myself.
When I started the commissioning projects at EJH, my goal was to have my students work with composers who also understood the artistry of making good choral music. Your music and teaching allowed that goal to be met.Wendee Wolf-Schlarf, Director
Traverse City East Junior High School ChoirsAn Osage/Cherokee text is plaintively set to flowing piano lines, haunting, angular melodies and warm harmonies in this captivating original work. An excellent choice for concert or festival activity.
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
The words of High Eagle speak of our connection to those things bigger than us. The sun is our father; our warmth, our strength, our lineage. The moon is our grandmother; our keeper, our nightlight. She makes us feel safe. The stars are our friends. They feel familiar and comfortable. I see everything around me. All the wonder and vastness of the universe reside in me and I in it. "Look -- I see the universe. I see myself."
If I Can Help Somebody
Boosey & Hawkes 48020821
Voicing: SATB chorus with soprano solo and piano
Melody: Alma Bazel Androzzo
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: University of Central Florida Chorus, Joanne Stephenson, soloist,
David L. Brunner, conductor, Spirit of the Child concert, First United Methodist Church,
Winter Park, Florida, November 6, 2008
Text: Alma Bazel Androzzo (1912-2001)
If I can help somebody as I pass along;
If I can cheer somebody with a word or a song,
If I can show somebody he is trav'ling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain!
Then my living shall not be in vain,
Then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can help somebody as I pass along,
Then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can point somebody to the Lamb once slain;
If I can tell somebody that He rose again,
That He can cleanse the guilty, He can wash the stain,
Then my living shall not be in vain.
Then my living shall not be in vain,
Then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can help somebody as I journey through this world,
Then my living shall not be in vain!
Miami Children's Chorus
2021 Zoom performance
This arrangement of the words and music of Alma Bazel Androzzo pays homage to the gospel tradition and is accessible to high school, college, church and community choruses. It was written for the choirs of the University of Central Florida, as the final piece on their benefit concert for the Children's Home Society of Central Florida. The Spirit of the Child, featured Rupert Lang's powerful work of the same name, about the plight of the lost boys of the Sudan, and other music honoring disenfranchised children worldwide.
In Celebration
Shawnee Press #A-1460 (POP)
Voicing: SSATB chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 2'45"
Text: Walt Whitman (1819-1892) (from Song of Myself)
In the Beauty Way
Boosey & Hawkes 48004783
For Doreen Rao and the 1997 Choral Music Experience Teacher Training Institute
Voicing: SATB chorus and treble voices with piano
Duration: c. 6’
First Performance: CME Institute Chorus, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois,
Doreen Rao, conductor, August 1, 1997.
Text: Leo Platero
Mother Earth, my mother
Father Sun, my father
Tonight your children have desires in prayer
Tonight your children desire your kindness.
Look upon us with positive thoughts
Look upon us by taking care of us.
May we the children sing in beauty
in the beauty way.
In this meditative and strikingly beautiful setting, a Navajo prayer is featured with SATB voices and a smaller group of treble voices. The text is predominantly English, but the use of the Navajo language in a hushed whisper is particularly compelling. The prayer is "That we your children might sing in the beauty way". Gorgeous!
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
In the Beauty Way was written for a community of singers, both children and adults. The music reflects a Native American influence, though it does not employ authentic native musical elements, as such. A simple, heartfelt text is set in repetitive, chant-like phrases, uncluttered textures, an intoned Navajo prayer, and a soaring melody in the children's voices. To be "in beauty" or "in the beauty way" suggests a place of grace, of grounding, of unity and community. Let your voice soar!
In the Bleak Midwinter
TBA
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano or guitar
Text: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: Gloria Musicae, David L. Brunner, conductor, Sarasota, Florida
This familiar carol, with its less familiar tune, consists of three verses of increasing complexity, for mixed chorus with guitar or piano. The interest lies in the harmonic treatment of each verse and the independence of the delicate accompaniment -- a constant filigree on notes of the supporting harmony. It is a gentle and expressive setting of a well-known Christmas carol, appropriate in range and difficulty for both high school and church choirs.
Jubilate Deo
Boosey & Hawkes 48004848
Commissioned bythe Kentucky chapter of the American Choral Directors Association for the Kentucky 1998 Fall Convention All-State 5th and 6th grade Elementary Choir and MS/JH SSA and SATB choirs
Voicing: SA(T)B chorus with brass and organ. (also available for treble chorus) Brass parts available for purchase
from the publisher 48001621. Orchestral version by Ron Ellis. Full score and
orchestral version parts on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 3'10"
First Performance: The 1998 Kentucky All-State Choirs, David L. Brunner, conductor,
Bowling Green, Kentucky, November 14, 1998; Orchestral version premiere by
the Young Singers Festival Chorus, David L. Brunner, conductor, Carnegie Hall,
New York, New York, June 28, 1999
Text: Sacred Latin text from Psalm 100
Jubilate Deo omnis terra;
Servite Domino in laetetia.
Introite in conspectu ejus in exultatione.
(O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands,
serve the Lord with gladness,
and come before his presence with a song.)
Know that the Lord alone is God;
he has made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Sing joyfully to God all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness
Enter into his presence with great joy!
David Brunner was a great composer to start our Kentucky ACDA commissioning journey. Having our All-State students work with the composer as conductor brought the music to life!
Robert C. Paugh
KDCA R&S Chair for Jr. High/Middle School ChoirsDavid Brunner, an absolutely innovative composer and conductor!
Donna T. Barnett
KCDA R&S Chair for Children's Choirs
This work was the first in a five-year commissioning project initiated by Kentucky ACDA, for the 5th and 6th grade Elementary Choir and Middle School/Junior High SSA and SATB choirs with brass and organ. A huge performing force of several hundred singers! Each composer contributed a Latin sacred text setting, which culminated in a performance of all five works. I was honored to compose this work and conduct its first performance.
The festive setting of Psalm 100 uses only fhe first three verses, in both English and in Latin. it should be sung with great rhythmic energy and textural clarity. The words should always be distinct. The interplay of colors and textures of organ, brass and voices is also important.
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Boosey & Hawkes 48019990
Commissioned for its 25th Anniversary by the Capital Districk Youth Chorale, Diane Warner, Founder and Director
Voicing: SAB chorus with oboe and piano
Duration: c. 3'45"
First Performance: Capital District Youth Chorale, Diane Warner, conductor, May 18, 2008
Text: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there,
of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-tows will I have there,
a hive for the honeybee.
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there,
for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
to where the cricket sings.
There midnight's all a glimmer,
and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sound by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin in 1865 and moved with his family to London when he was two years old. For the next thirteen years the family vacationed at Lake Innisfree in County Sligo. Yeats remembered these outings fondly and remarked that he often wished he could return there to live as Thoreau did at Walden Pond.
It seems of all his memories of Innisfree, the sounds of this idyllic, tranquil place were the most memorable and appear in his poem as the buzzing of bees, the singing of crickets, the gentle sounds of birds' wings and the lapping of water at the shore.
For all of us there may be recollections of places and times that resonate within us and can be revisited as vividly as though we were now there. Even when standing on the grey pavements of the city, we hear the whisper of that place, deep in our heart, at our core.
This setting moves in a gentle rhythm, closely aligned to the natural accent and inflection of the text. Feel the short-long, unstressed-stressed, iambic quality and use it to shape the rhythm, melody and phrase.
Connect with your own remembrance of a special place.
The Little Horses
Boosey & Hawkes 48004943
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 2'20"
Text: Traditional Lullaby
Hush you bye,
Don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake,
You shall have,
All the pretty little horses.
Blacks and bays,
Dappls and grays,
Coach and six-a little horses.
Blacks and bays,
Dapples and grays,
Coach and six-a little horses.
Hush you bye,
Don’t you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake,
You’ll have sweet cake and
All the pretty little horses.
A brown and gray and a black and a bay and a
Coach and six-a little horses.
A black and a bay ad a brown and a gray and a
Coach and six-a little horses.
Hush you bye,
Don’t you cry,
Oh you pretty little baby.
Go to sleepy little baby.
Oh you pretty little baby.
Order the complete Old American Songs for SATB chorus
SATB adaptation of solo song from Copland's Old American Songs for Boosey & Hawkes Copland 2000 Series. Orchestral version parts available on rental from the publisher.
The Lord is a Great God
Boosey & Hawkes 48005149
Commissioned to glorify God on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, Tampa, Florida, Melissa Chivington, Director of Music Ministries, David E. Matthews, organist
Voicing: SATB chorus with organ
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir, Melissa Chivington,
conductor, November 10, 2002
Text: Isaiah 43:1-3, Psalm 95:1-6
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
Do not fear, I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you;
Do not fear, when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church had the great honor and privilege to have David Brunner compose a commissioned anthem to commemorate the 75th anniversary of our church which was celebrated in November of 2002. David's willingness to work with the goals we had for an anthem, his insight into the Biblical text we hoped could be used, and his wonderful sense of creativity that shows through in his musical style culminated into a wonderful celebratory anthem entitled "The Lord Is A Great God" -- one that I am sure will be a favorite for years to come.
Melissa Chivington, Director of Music
Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church
Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in Tampa, Florida celebrated its 75th anniversary year in 2002. They had much to be thankful for: the richness of their past, their recovery from an arson fire in recent years, and their optimism for the future. The choice of texts was a mutual endeavor, the Isaiah text chosen, in part, for its reference to "passing through the fire and not being consumed by the flame". The Psalm text reflects their joy at this milestone in their history. The recurrence of the text "do not fear", with its related musical material, has been purposefully used as an architectural support, and a textual reassurance, as well.
Sing fearlessly, with conviction and rejoicing.
Miraculous
Boosey & Hawkes 48024468
For the Hardin Valley Academy Choral Department, Teresa Scoggins, director, in celebration of Hardin Valley Academy's 10th Anniversary Year
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: Hardin Valley Academy choir, Teresa Scoggins, director, Knoxville, TN, May 8, 2018
Text: Scott Lounsbury
We see the new-born light:
revolving Earthen orb,
the dark, gone for a time.
The sudden-healthy child,
unlooked-for gift of life:
a miracle at play.
The changing season, or
the changing of a mind
that showed no cause to shift.
The anxious whispered prayer
is answered over time.
likewise in whisper: "yes."
These wonders come along
around us every day
and light and joy flow forth.
But untold miracles
unfold and change the world
each day around the globe.
Our task is to acknowledge,
praise a nameless power,
and turn our lives afresh.
To further love's soft call
to gather into one
a people blessed with awe.
Miracles are not always big events but wonders that "come along around us every day": changing seasons, changing minds, sudden health, answered prayers, daily sunrise. Our task is to notice, to acknowledge. Poet-friend Scott Lounsbury has beautifully captured the simplicity of the miraculous in our everyday life. I welcomed the opportunity to write something for long-time friend Teresa Scoggins and her singers, and was inspired by her daughter Payton, a miracle in herself.
The Music Sings in Them
Boosey & Hawkes 48022583
Commissioned by the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts as the second anthem in the Lloyd Pfautsch Memorial Anthem Series. Premiered at the National Convocation in Orlando, Florida, July 14, 2009.
Voicing: SATB chorus with organ
Text: Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377) and Charles Wesley (1708-1788)
Duration: c. 4'45"
First Performance: National Convocation of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, Orlando, Florida, July 14, 2009. First United Methodist Church of Orlando Chancel Choir, Bill Shortal, Director
The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts' 2009 convocation was held in Orlando, Florida. For that occasion, the Fellowship commissioned this work, the second in the Lloyd Pfautsch Memorial Anthem Series. Bill Shortal's Chancel Choir from First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando sang the premiere.
The text comes from an unexpected source, the writings of Medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300 - 1377). Originally in French, a single line of the English translation caught my imagination and was the inspiration for this work: "For the saints can only sing when the music sings in them". It seemed natural to lead from this statement directly into the sturdy, familiar words of Charles Wesley's "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing", a well-known and often sung Methodist hymn.
Fanfare figures are prominent in both choir and organ and while robust, there is a lyricism inherent in the melodies. Sing with "voices fine, voices strong and clear".
Musicks Empire
TBA
For the Exsultate! Chorale, Youth Chorale and Apprentices, Stephen D. Johns, Artistic Director, Venice, Florida
Voicing: SATB chorus with french horn and piano
Text: Andrew Marvel (1621-1679)
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Exsultate! Chorale, Youth Chorale and Apprentices, Stephen D. Johns, Artistic Director, Venice, FL, April 12, 2015
I contacted David Brunner and asked for a composition for the final concert of the Exsultate Chorale season. I asked him to provide connections to the mission of the Chorale and its educational outreach to the youth of our community and feature the student apprentice singers from Venice High School’s vocal program and the Exsultate Youth Chorus with singers from grade 4 through 8. I also wanted a rousing grand finale with piano and French horn accompaniment, all to be performed on the stage of our new Performing Arts Center.
I was delighted with Dr. Brunner’s choice of Andrew Marvell’s Musicks Empire as a text to communicate all that I had asked for. The opening fanfares are powerful and the mixed meter communicates the text clearly. His setting of the words moves from energetic and powerful, to beautiful and contemplative. The accompaniment is very well crafted and supportive of the voice parts and the section for children’s chorus adds a wonderful color to the fabric of the composition. The singers fell in love with the piece right away! David Brunner’s Musicks Empire was a grand finale indeed -- a powerful celebration of music for singers of all ages, our passion and our mission.
Stephen D. Johns, Artistic Director
Exsultate Chorale
My Song
Boosey & Hawkes 48023352
For the Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus, Glenn Kime, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with violin and piano.
Duration: c. 4'45"
First Performance: The Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus, Glenn Kime, conductor, Syracuse, New York,
December 2 and 3, 2011
Text: Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) (The Cresent Moon, 1016)
This song of mine will wind its music around you,
my child, like the fond arms of love.
This song of mine will touch your forehead
like a kiss of blessing.
When you are alone it will sit by your side
and whisper in your ear,
When you are in the crowd it will fence
you about with aloofness.
My song will be like a pair of wings
to your dreams,
It will transport your heart to the verge
of the unknown,
It will be like the faithful star overhead
when dark night is over your road.
My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes,
And will carry your sight into the heart of things.
And when my voice is silent in death,
My song will speak in your living heart.
The renowned Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore lived from 1861 to 1941 and was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. His elegant verse was an inspiration for me and an appropriate tribute for the Syracuse Gay & Lesbian Chorus, which celebrated its 20th anniversary season in 2011-2012. Conductor Glenn Kime conducted the premiere of My Song on December 2, 2011.
The verse is lyrical and the music melodically oriented, with a prominent violin obligato and rich harmonic language. Mostly the text setting is syllabic and declamatory and, while the language should be clear, the singing style should be legato and flowing.
There is the opportunity for flexibility and rubato with regard to tempo and expression. There should be an equality in the interplay of voices and solo violin, with the latter always heard above the thicker textures.
O Aula Nobilis
Boosey & Hawkes 48023459
For the University of Tennessee Chamber Singers, Dr. Angela Batey, conductor, to celebrate the opening of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
Voicing: SATB chorus with two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba
Brass parts available from Boosey & Hawkes #1000212771
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: University of Tennessee Chamber Singers, Angela Batey, conductor, September 2013
Text: Latin
O noble hall and pride of the school,
Of all halls the most outstanding,
Adorned by the skills of many men,
Echoing this day with the songs of young girls;
We wish you well, we praise you;
Prosper from generation to generation!
O Aula Nobilis is a festive work, composed for the opening of the Natalie L. Haslam music center at the University of Tennessee. The UT Chamber Singers, conducted by Angela Batey, sang the first performance in the Haslam hall on September 12, 2013.
After the opening unaccompanied chant in the women’s voices, the music, though clearly based on the chant melody, takes on a highly rhythmic, asymmetrical and angular character, with a bright and resonant quality.
The brass quintet is supportive of the singers and interjects with bright fanfare passages and rhythmic punctuation.
Sing boldly, with strong articulation and percussive diction.
O Magnum Mysterium
Boosey & Hawkes TBA
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 3'15"
First Performance: VanderCook College of Music Concert Choir, Robert Sinclair, conductor, Nativity of Our Lord church, Chicago, IL, December 1, 2022
- Text: Traditional Latin
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
iacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Iesum Christum.
Alleluia!
- English translation
- O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Alleluia! -
I have always felt that I wanted to compose music to the O Magnum Mysterium text. I’ve studied, conducted and loved settings by Gabrieli, Pinkham and Lauridsen but waited a long time to write my own. It was not until the Covid-19 pandemic shut down choral music in March of 2020 -- and my own writing also stopped until November of that year – that I turned to this text for my re-emergence.
This setting is characterized by gentle dissonance and full harmonies in an SATB divisi texture.
O Music
Boosey & Hawkes 48004551
For the Brevard Community Chorus, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with cello and piano. (also available for treble chorus) Orchestral version by Ron Ellis.
Full score and parts available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Brevard Community Chorus, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor,
the King Center for the Performing Arts, Melbourne, Florida, November 15, 1994
Text: Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
O music, in your depths we deposit our hearts and souls.
Thou hast taught us to see with our ears and hear with our hearts.
An expressive work for chorus, cello and piano which is becoming a popular choice for regional festival lists.
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
Kahlil Gibran's words reflect profoundly personal feelings of our experience with music. Long-breathed phrases and broad, arching melodic contours and an achingly beautiful cello solo characterize this setting.
Ode to the Present and Future Days
TBA
For the International Cathedral Music Festival at Canterbury, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus and mezzo soprano soloist with orchestra
Text: Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)
Duration: c. 23'
First Performance: The International Cathedral Music Festival Choir and Orchestra of
St. Johns, Melanie Williams, soprano soloist, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor, Canterbury
Cathedral, Canterbury, and Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, England, July 2000
David's newest work for soprano soloist, chorus and orchestra, "Ode to the Present and Future Days", is his most glorious and imaginative to date. Based on texts by Pablo Neruda, the music captures the very essence of the poet's admonishment to chase our dreams with abandon and to seek lives filled with beauty and purpose. A macaronic work, David's Ode intertwines element of chant, soaring melodies for the chorus, a beautifully haunting cello solo, and reminiscences of cathedral bells from the orchestra. Commissioned and premiered for the Millennium celebration of the International Cathedral Music Festival in Canterbury Cathedral, the work and its composer were received with great excitement by those who filled the church. David has surpassed even his own previous mark with this one!
Jeff W. Reynolds, Music Director
International Cathedral Music Festival
Of The Father's Love Begotten
TBA
For the University of Central Florida choirs
Voicing: SATB chorus with organ and handbells
Text: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, trans. J. M. Neale, Henry W. Baker (1851/1861)
Tune: Divinum Mysterium plainsong
Duration: c. 3'30"
First Performance: The combined choirs of the University of Central Florida, David L. Brunner, conductor, St. James Cathedral, Orlando, FL, December 3, 2015
Of Thee I Sing (America)
Boosey & Hawkes 48005093
For the 2002 Secondary All-County Choruses, Kanawha County, West Virginia
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: Samuel Francis Smith (1808-1895)
Tune: Incorporates a traditiional tune in Thesaurus Musicus, 1744
Duration: c. 3'20"
First Performance: The combined High School and Junior High/Middle School All-County
Choruses, David L. Brunner, conductor, Charleston, West Virginia, March 8, 2002
Few songs in the rich heritage of American patriotic music are as widely known and sung as America. Here the words of Samuel Francis Smith are set to a new melody which is sturdy yet lyrical, fresh yet familiar. Interspersed throughout are instrumental flourishes which lend strength and fanfare. The final verse gives way to the traditional tun, but in duple time and with a new harmonization. The effect is one of strength and solidity.
One Song
TBA
For the Miami Children's Chorus, Liana Salinas, Artistic Director
Voicing: SSAB chorus with piano.
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Author Unknown
One song can spark a moment,
One whisper can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smiile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true.
One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!
The Painted Book
Boosey & Hawkes 48004882
Commissioned by the Venice High School Concert Choir, Stephen Johns, director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano. Orchestral version by Ron Ellis. Full score and parts
available from the composer.
Duration: c. 4'10"
First Performance: The Venice High School Concert Choir, David L. Brunner, conductor,
Venice High School, Venice, Florida, May 1999
Text: late 15th c. after Nezahualcuyotl, Nahuatl, Texcoco
In the house of paintings the singing begins,
song is intoned, flowers are spread,
the song rejoices.
Above the flowers is singing the radiant pheasant;
his song expands into the interior of the waters.
To him reply all manner of red birds;
the dazzling red bird sings a beautiful chant.
Your heart is a book of paintings,
You have come to sing,
to make Your dreams resound.
You are the singer.
Within the house of springtime,
You make the people happy.
You alone bestow intoxicating flowers, precious flowers.
Mayflower Secondary School Choir
Tay Tze Chen, conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
The harmony and voice leading in the composition were well within the capabilities of the group. Students enjoyed exploring the beauty of the melody and the layering on of harmonies. This composition quickly became a favorite of the singers. Along with the pride they felt singing a piece written for them, they were very aware of the striking beauty of the music. I have had the pleasure of performing and directing students in many of Dr. Brunner's compositions. One thing that interests me about his compositions is the treatment of the text. he very carefully crafts his music to the natural stress of each syllable. His melodies seem to sing themselves. The music and text of his pieces flow very nicely together and are quite beautiful.
Stephen Johns, Director
Venice High School Concert ChoirPainted Books date to the time of Nezahualcuyotl (1402 - 1472), a chief of Texcoco for more than forty years, and author of more than thirty surviving compositions. While the tradition, it seems, was oral, some writings took the form of paintings on vases, books, or screen folds. Fewer than twenty of these "painted books" have survived from Meso-America, and their exact reading remains a mystery. The central image, however, is that of a life lived with some hope of meaning.
That hope and optimism is everywhere evident in the words of this painted book. "Your heart is a book of paintings you have come to sing, to make your dreams resound. You are the singer!"The melodies are supple and sensual throughout and should be sung with shape, movement, and direction. Dramatic sections intersperse with a quiet return to the refrain "In the house of paintings the singing begins." Give your singing an awareness of the architecture of the piece. Allow triplets room to breathe, and feel the gentle undulations of the rhythms throughout. Mostly, believe the words.
Pater Noster
TBA
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 2'10"
Text:
Pater noster, qui es in caelis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum;
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Fiat voluntas tua
sicut in caelo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie.
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum
et potentia et gloria
in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen
The Latin version of the Lord’s Prayer, Pater Noster is a central prayer of Christianity that has been set to music by many composers, including Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd, Verdi, Stravinsky and John Tavener. My setting is a relatively short one, presenting the text in its entirely without repetition. It moves slowly, with a gentle syllabic rhythm that mirrors the natural text inflection. There is a sense of quiet intimacy.
The Peace of Wild Things
TBA
Commissioned for the singers of Exsultate!, Venice's Chorale, Stephen D. Johns, Artistic Director, Venice, Florida
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus with piano
Text: Wendell Berry
Duration: c. 3'25"
First Performance: Exsultate!, Stephen Johns, conductor, Venice, Florida, April 14, 2013
Phoenix Song
Boosey & Hawkes 48024152
For the singers of the 2017 Orange County All-County Chorus, in remembrance of and to honor all those affected by the Pulse nightclub tragedy on June 12, 2016
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: Orange County High School All-County Chorus, Andrew Minear, conductor, Orlando, FL, January 2017
Text: Scott Lounsbury
As the phoenix rises from its ashes,
Sings renewal as from winded horn,
Drawing deeply, filling up its lungs with
breath and spirit bound again, reborn,
So, we too arise from ash and sorrow:
So, we too awake from horror pain --
Linking breath and spirit to each other:
Linking, voice to voice, a choral chain.
Wave these threads of music into life,
As chords, like strings of heaven, bind us fast.
Sing out loud the song of re-Creation!
Sing we our tomorrow, not our past.
How do we arise from ash, from terror?
Cries each voice, "we're healing as we sing.
Like the phoenix, we will rise from ashes,
Linking breath to spirit -- song takes wing!"
On June 12, 2016 everything changed in Orlando. The tragedy at the Pulse nightclub affected everyone overnight. Five days later, tens of thousands of people gathered at Lake Eola in downtown for a remembrance. The mood, though somber, had a festive air as neighbors, friends and strangers, gay and straight, young and old, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians, gathered together to bear witness. There were improvised memorials, flowers and rainbows everywhere. And there was a profound awareness that we all belonged to each other.
A few months later Matthew Swope, choral director at Winter Park High School requested an anthem that the Orange County All-County High School Chorus could sing. My friend and muse Scott Lounsbury wrote an equisite poem that exressed everything I had hoped for. This is not a song of sadness, but comfort; not of despair, but hopefulness; not of loneliness, but of community.
How do we arise from ash, from terror? Cries each voice, "we're healing as we sing. Like the phoenix, we will rise from ashes, Linking breath to spirit -- song takes wing!"
Psalm of Praise
Boosey & Hawkes 48019989
Commissioned in honor of the 30th anniversary of the St. Louis Children's Choirs, Barbara Berner, Artistic Director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: St. Louis Children's Choirs, Barbara Berner, Artistic Director,
St. Louis, Missouri, May 18, 2008
Text: Psalm 104:1-3, 24, 31, 33
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great: thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
Psalm of Praise is a wonderfully engaging sacred piece in an unexpected jazz style. Our Chamber Singers and Alumni absolutely loved performing this composition! The close harmonies and changing textures made it an intriguing and rewarding challenge for the choir. This composition is a beautiful setting of Psalm 104 that includes the text "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being". Commissioned for the 30th Anniversary of The St. Louis Children's Choirs, it was a favorite of students and audiences alike!
Barbara Berner, Artistic Director
The St. Louis CHildren's ChoirsThe melody of Psalm of Praise, as first presented, is reminiscent of a folk tune or early hymn tune, but soon takes on the characteristics of a more contemporary style. There are some unexpected turns of harmony and the vocal scoring is tight, but not difficult for singers just beginning to explore jazz harmonies. The ranges are comfortable and also appropriate for developing choirs.
I have long known and admired the young singers of the St. Louis Children's Choirs and their Artistic Director Barbara Berner, and before her, founder Ethelyn Sparfeld. It was a pleasure to have contributed to the celebration of their 30th year with this piece.
Sea Fever
Walton Music 00116958
Commissioned by the Wando High School Choir, Eric Wilkinson, director
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'25"
First Performance: the Wando High School Choir, Eric Wilkinson, director, Carnegie Hall,
New York, NY, April 24, 2011
Text: John Masefield (1878-1967)
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and he blown spume, and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
My friend Eric Wilkinson and his fantastic singers at Wando High School live in an area which has a close connection to the sea. Charleston, South Carolina is a charming city that I’ve visited a number of times and I’m always aware of the air and atmosphere, the proximity of the water -- its sound and smell – and the city’s wonderful seafood. When Eric suggested looking at texts that had to do with water and living near the water, this well-known poem of John Masefield came immediately to mind. Texts like this are sometimes relegated to men’s choirs (sea chanteys and all), but I sense a more universal theme here of connection with place and sense of identity, of remembrance and longing for the freedom of the “vagrant gypsy life”.
There’s a rocking nature in the gently undulating melodic gestures and recurring rhythmic ideas that will inform your performance with regard to tempo, articulation, dynamic shading and expression.
Shall I Silent Be
Boosey & Hawkes HL 48022757
Commissioned by the Mississippi College Singers on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Festival of Lights at Mississippi College in honor of Dr. James Richard Joiner, who began the cherished Festival tradition in 1985
Voicing: SATB divisi chorus with piano and orchestral bells
Duration: c. 3'22"
First Performance: Mississippi College Singers, James M. Meaders, conductor, at the 2010 Festival of Lights, Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi, December 2-4, 2010.
Text: George Herbert (1593-1633)
The shepherds sing; and shall I silent be?
My God, no hymne for thee?
My soul's a shepherd too: a flock it feeds
Of thoughts, and words, and deeds.
The pasture is thy word; the streams, thy grace
Enriching all the place.
Shepherd and flock shall sing, and all my powers
Out-sing the day-light houres.
Then we will chide the same for letting night
Take up his place and right.
We sing one common Lord; wherefore he should
Himself the candle hold.
I will go searching, till I finde a sunne
Shall stay, till we have done;
A willing shiner, that shall shine as gladly,
As frost-nipt sunnes look sadly.
Then we will sing, and shine all our own day,
And one another pay;
His beams shall cheer my breast, and both so twine,
Till ev'n his beams sing, and my musick shine.
We were looking for a composer to set a treasured poem with graceful melodies, textual sensitivity, and vibrant harmonic language. We found that person in David Brunner. David graciously worked with us to create a setting that immediately captured the singers' imaginations and inspired their performances. Key relationships, accompanying lines, and choral parts are masterfully interwoven to communicate the beauty and depth of George Herbert's metaphysical text.
James M. Meaders
Director, Mississippi College Singers
In 1985 Dr. James Richard Joiner began the tradition of the Festival of Lights at Mississippi College. In 2010 Dr. James M. Meaders wished to honor him on the 25th anniversary of this tradition. Shall I Silent Be is the result of this special commemoration. George Herbert's text from the poem Christmas, also used in Vaughan Williams' Hodie, has a pastoral quality (flocks, shepherds, pastures, streams) and a personal association ("My soul's a shepherd too"), the concluding stanza culminating in strong and joyful conviction ("Then we will sing, and shine all our own day..."). Lyrical solo phrases, homophonic and animated passages all serve to illuminate the text and there are many tempo related opportunities for expressive singing.
The Mississippi College Singers premiere occurred December 2-4, 2010 in Provine Chapel on the Mississippi College campus, under the direction of James Meaders. Both the composer and honoree were present.
Simple Boat
Boosey & Hawkes 48018989
Commissioned by Weerter Gemengd Koor "VIVACE', Kammerkoor Cantate Venlo, Beeker Liedertafel and Chevremonts Mannerkoor 1912 Kerkrade, Dion Ritten, Artistic Director, in his 25th Anniversary as Conductor, for the Sierra Leone Project of War Child Netherlands
Voicing: SATB and treble choirs with piano. Orchestral version by Ron Ellis.
Full score and parts available on rental from the composer.
Duration: c. 7'15"
First Performance: Weert Munttheater, Kerkrade Wijngrachttheater, Dion Ritten,
conductor, October 1 and 2, 2004
Text: Irish Fisherman's Prayer/The Way of the Bodhisattva
Dear Lord, be good to me.
The sea is so wide
And my boat is so small.
-----
Regard your body as a vessel,
A simple boat for going here and there.
Make of it a wish-fulfilling gem
To bring about the benefit of beings.
-----
May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road.
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.
I know David Brunner as a very fine composer and person. For his compositions he always chooses interesting and profound texts. Simple Boat is a perfect combination of texts from an Irish Fisherman's Prayer and a Buddhist text. It is an expressive work, composed with great musical integrity and beautiful melodies. The first performance of Simple Boat was very emotional and moving and had a marvelous response by the audience, who gave a standing ovation. Thank you, David, for, again, a very valuable enlargement of the choral literature.
Dion Ritten
Conductor, Weeter Gemengd Koor "VIVACE"
The NetherlandsThe occasion of an anniversary is always a reason to celebrate. When my friend Dion Ritten approached me to write a piece for his 25th anniversary with his choirs, I was eager to do so. What made the project even more compelling was his wish that the concert become an opportunity for greater awareness and a way to contribute to a greater cause. His choice was the Sierra Leone project of War Child Netherlands. It was a collaboration I had to be a part of.
The choice of texts was a crucial one for me. I believe the plight of the child is beautifully captured in the words of the Irish Fisherman's Prayer: "O Lord, be good to me. The sea is so great and my boat is so small." These words of helplessness in the face of an overwhelming sea are the only words sung by the chorus of children. The adult community of singers respond with two Buddhist writings from The Way of the Bodhisattva: "Regard your body as a vessel, a simple boat for going here and there. Make of it a wish-fulfilling gem to bring about the benefit of beings." "May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to go across the water, may I be a boat, a raft, a bridge."
This helping community offers itself as the vehicle for crossing the water. The refrain "a simple boat" recurs throughout the piece, not only as a unifying device, but also a reminder that we, personally, possess the simple means to bring about the benefit of beings. That we, individually, can be a bridge or boat for those who have need of one.
The Buddhist image of crossing the water or going to the other shore is the movement to enlightenment or awakening, from suffering to liberation, forgetfulness to mindfulness, duality to non-duality.
Sing the melodic lines with gentle shape and grace. Take time for the music to unfold and expand. Sing the words as if they were your own.
Simple Gifts
Boosey & Hawkes 48004944
J. W. Pepper Basic Library
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 1'10"
Text: Shaker Song
‘Tis the gift to be simple ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight.
‘Till by turning, turning we come round right.
‘Tis the gift to be simple ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
National Youth Choir of Scotland
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Christopher Bell, conductor
Order the complete Old American Songs for SATB chorus
SATB adaptation of solo song from Copland's Old American Songs for Boosey & Hawkes Copland 2000 Series. Orchestral version parts available on rental from the publisher.
Sing, Hevin Imperial
TBA
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 2'
Text: William Dunbar (1460 - 1520?)
Sing, hevin imperial, most of hicht!
Regions of air mak armony!
All fish in flud and fowl of flicht
Be mirthful and mak melody!
All Gloria in excelsis cry!
Heaven, erd, se, man, bird, and best,
He that is crownit abone the sky
Pro nobis Puer natus est!
The Singing Will Never Be Done
TBA
For the Orlando Children's Chorus and their directors Trey Jacobs and Carolyn Minear on their Fifth Anniversary
Voicing: SATB and treble choirs with piano
Text: Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967)
Duration: c. 5'50"
First Performance: The Orlando Children's Chorus, Trey Jacobs, conductor,
Orlando, Florida, spring 2001
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
Sleeping in the Forest
TBA
Commissioned by the New Orleans Children's Chorus, Cheryl Durand Dupont, director, in memory of Marcia Durand Caparotta
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: Mary Oliver (b. 1935)
Duration: c. 4'30"
First Performance: Crescent City High School Choral Festival, New Orleans,
Louisiana, David L. Brunner, conductor, March 12, 2005
For many years Cheryl Dupont and I wanted to collaborate on a commissioned piece in memory of her sister, Marcia. For the longest time, however, we couldn't find a text that was quite right, until this one. I liked the tenderness and gentle rhythm of these words. I liked the imagery of the earth "remembering me", tenderly taking me back, covering me with her dark skirts. It somehow seemed an appropriate memorial and, at the same time, also gave me a sense of renewal and awakening, having vanished many times throughout my sleep into something better. These words make me feel comforted, rested and refreshed. I like what I imagine to be the feeling of sleeping "as never before", like a stone on the riverbed, nothing between me and everything else that is.
Throughout the piece, the phrase "I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly" is used as a refrain. Each time the words should feel familiar, a tender reassurance. The singing should be gentle and expressive, full of breath and life.
Snowfall
Walton Music (coming in 2024)
For Kazuaki Tanahashi with gratitude
Voicing: SATB divisi a cappella chorus
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Ryokan (1758-1831), English translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi
Within this serene snowfall
a billion worlds arise.
In each, flurries come floating down.
Snowfall is Kazuaki Tanahashi's translation of a Ryokan poem. The musical setting is subdued in dynamic and very slow – barely moving. Full chords move in gentle dissonance. The mood is of serene quiet.
Song of the Earth Spirit
Boosey & Hawkes 48005110
For the Conard High School Solo Choir, Patty Donohoe, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 4'10"
First Performance: Conard High School Solo Choir, West Hartford,
Connecticut, David L. Brunner, conductor, May 2001
Text: Stephen C. Jett
I am the spirit within the earth...
The feet of the earth are my feet...
The legs of the learth are my legs...
The bodily strength of the earth is my bodily strength...
It is lovely indeed.
The thoughts of the earth are my thoughts...
The voice of the earth is my voice...
The feather of the earth is my feather...
It is lovely indeed.
All that belongs to the earth belongs to me...
All that surrounds the earth surrounds me...
It is lovely indeed.
I am the sacred words of the earth...
It is lovely indeed.
Every rehearsal was magic. The students loved the harmonies and the text. David flew in to premiere the work at our spring concert, the result of which was a very special evening for all of us. The students had been prepared about the Navajo culture, and slides of native sand paintings and pottery encircled the walls of the auditorium, surrounding us in a sort of "womb" in which the music happened. The students' reflection on the experience was unanimously positive. Many had never felt such emotion when singing a choral work. Thank you, David, for Song of the Earth Spirit! It is always a pleasure to watch you work with young adults.
Patty Donohoe, Director of Choral Music
Conard High School, West Hartford, CTThe words of Stephen Jett resonate with respect for the earth and our personal connection with it. The narrative is from the perspective of the Earth Spirit, but also resounds within us. I have chosen the words "It is lovely indeed" as a recurring phrase in this litany that culminates on the text "All that belongs to the earth belongs to me". This is a piece of warmth and sincerity. Make it beautiful.
Song of the Open Road
Boosey & Hawkes 48019533
Commissioned for the combined choirs of Hall High School and King Philip Middle School in honor of Salle Ferrebee's dedication to the West Hartford Schools and the Connecticut Children's Chorus, 2006
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'30"
First Performance: King Philip Middle School Chorus, Sallie Ferrebee, conductor,
and Hall High School Chorus, Lorri Cetto, conductor; David L. Brunner,
guest conductor, West Hartford, Connecticut, February 13, 2006
Text: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me,
Leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune --
I myself am good-fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more,
postpone no more, need nothing.
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
The earth -- that is sufficient;
I do not want the constellations any nearer;
I know they are very well where they are;
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
From this hour, freedom!
I inhale great draughts of air;
the east and the west are mine,
and the north and the south are mine.
I am larger than thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.
All seems beautiful to me.
It's a special occasion for me when I'm asked to write a piece in honor of a person who I know and admire. Such was the case when good friends Lorri Cetto and Sallie Ferrebee asked for a piece commemorating Sallie's retirement from the West Hartfod public schools. Walt Whitman's Song of the Open Road, seems more than suitable for Sallie -- "afoot and lighthearted", "healthy and free, the world before me".
I glimpsed her future somewhat this year, while on a full-year sabbatical leave from teaching, and so, too, have identified with Whitman's words: "I inhale great draughts of air; The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine", "The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose". This sense of freedom is reflected in the music's easy gait, its long-breathed lines and expansive melodies.
The community of middle and high school singers who premiered the piece were all touched by Sallie Ferrebee and her enthusiasm for children, teaching and life. We wish her a great journey!
Song's Eternity
Boosey & Hawkes 48004737
For the Park Forest Singers' 20th Anniversary, Dennis Northway, director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Park Forest Singers, David L. Brunner, guest conductor,
Governors' State University, University Park, Illinois, June 15, 1997
Text: John Clare (1793-1864)
What is song's eternity?
Come and see.
Can it noise and bustle be?
Come and see.
Praises sung or praises said
Can it be?
Wait awhile and these are dead-
Sigh, sigh;
Be they high or lowly bred
They die.
What is song's eternity?
Come and see.
Melodies of earth and sky,
Here they be.
Song once sung to Adam's ears
Can it be?
Ballads of six thousand years
Thrive, thrive;
Songs awaken with the spheres
Alive.
Mighty songs that miss decay,
What are they?
Crowds and cities pass away
Like a day.
Books are out and books are read;
What are they?
Years will lay them with the dead-
Sigh, sigh;
Trifles unto nothing wed,
They die.
Sing creation's music on;
Nature's glee
Is in every mood and tone
Eternity.
A compelling text and gorgeous, stark accompaniment lines are featured in this choral work that speaks of the connection of all music from all lands, and from all centuries.
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
John Clare's evocative words suggest the intriguing notion that songs live forever.
"Songs once sung to Adam's ear thrive -- awakened with the spheres alive." The poet further suggests that we have a connection with this eternity, that though temporal things pass away, these songs live in us today. "The eternity of song liveth her, Nature's universal tongue singeth here. Songs I've heard and felt and seen everywhere, Songs like the grass are evergreen, the giver said Live and Be and they have been for ever." Feel your connection with the musics that have come before us. Make these wods come alive in you.
Songs of Faith
Boosey & Hawkes 48023475
A gift from Carla Neeld for the Chancel Choir of St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Newport Beach, California, Richard Messenger, Director of Music, on the occasion of the church's 50th anniversary
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'10"
First Performance: The Chancel Choir, St. Mark presbyterian Church, Richard Messenger, conductor, Newport Beach, California, December 2, 2012.
Text: Thomas H. Troeger (from Above the Moon Earth Rises)
Sing to God as sings the ocean,
sing as birds that greet the dawn,
sing as windswept trees in motion,
sing and let your song be drawn
from God's vast and whole creation,
from your faith and doubt and fears,
from rebirth and re-creation,
from life's wealth of joy and tears.
Sing the heart's deep sighing sorrow
to the lord who hears lament,
who at midnight sees tomorrow
whom the dark at last is spent.
Sing to God who in our sadness
brings the news of coming light,
ample hope to waken gladness
and sustain us through the night.
Sing the great, glad joy of Jesus!
Sing the gospel that Christ brings,
Sing the way Christ heals and feeds us,
Sing the song that Easter sings:
Christ is risen, Christ is living,
Christ among us, Christ within,
Christ the spring of endless giving
Where new songs of faith begin.
I was first attracted to David Brunner’s music when I discovered “O Music” for women’s chorus with its beautiful cello obbligato. As my church prepared to celebrate its 50th anniversary, I was presented the opportunity to commission an anthem for the occasion and quickly contacted Dr. Brunner. He enthusiastically chose a Thomas Troeger text from among several I offered to him and composed a piece that not only perfectly met the expectations I specified—it also captured and amplified the text in a beautiful and most appropriate setting. My choir and I are very pleased with “Where New Songs of Faith Begin.”
Richard Messenger
Director of Music
St. Mark's Presbyterian Church
Newport Beach, California
Songs of Faith was commissioned as a gift from Carla Neeld to celebrate the 50th anniversary of St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. The Chancel Choir, under the direction of Richard Messenger, sang the first performance on December 2, 2012. The text by Thomas H. Troeger, the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz professor of Christian Communication in the Yale Divinity School, is his poem “Sing to God as Sings the Ocean". His well-known poetry appears in the hymnals of most denominations.
Tuneful melodies of broad contours and long-breathed phrases characterize this setting. A sense of rubato, particularly toward the end of most phrases, can expressively shape each phrase. While the largely syllabic text setting lends itself to clear declamation of the words and sturdy singing, the lyrical nature of the phrase should always be apparent. Though scored for piano, the accompaniment could be adapted for organ with equal effect.
Spirit of the Lake (2019)
TBA
For the Lakeshore ommunity Chorus, Nancy Plantinga, director,
in celebration of their 10th anniversary
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 8'
First Performance: The Lakeshore Community Chorus, Nancy Plantinga, director, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, Michigan
Text: Linda Nemec Foster
I. Spring, Ssunrise, A Language That Sings
From the mouth of the river
to the foot of the dunes,
from Oval Beach and its waves
to Baldhead and its wind,
the day rises as spring awakens.
The sun kisses every cloud, every
hint of blue as it beckons each rose
to blossom, each robin to leave its nest.
A little boy and a little girl open
their eyes to the new day and never
blink. Constant movement, constant flow.
From the sparkling edge of the blue water
to the top of the highest dune, the children
know both worlds. They invent a language that sings.
II. Summer, Afternoon, A Necklace of Light
In her youth, her wonder-filled youth,
the full sun of summer.
Endless days as the light dances on the waves
with the sheer brilliance
of diamonds. The young woman
watches the reflections all day
as the lake's shining waters
flow from thin horizon
to wide embrace of beach.
As is she could weave that brilliance into a necklace
of light: iridescent shine that
would never dim, never die.
III. Fall, Sunset, The Sound of Wings on Water
In his middle years, his quiet middle years,
the man walks the shore
and seeks the glowing
sunset on the waters.
The colors of autumn
alive on the waves:
crimson, orange, deep, deep
gold. But it's the sound
of the gulls that fill him
with amazement. How their gray
wings touch the water
with such grace, they
sound like paper unfolding --
an unread letter to his heart.
IV. Winter, Night, The Song of the Moon
From the mouth of the river
to the foot of the dunes,
from Oval Beach and its waves
to Baldhead and its wind,
the night descends as winter dreams.
Tonight, the moon is a crescent --
a hint of silver, veiled in mist.
It sings a low melody that pulses
in each wave, in each heartbeat
of the eldest, the wise: those men
and women alive with the most memories.
They provide the lyrics to the song
the moon sings over and over again
as it reaches the shore, as it reaches the shore.
Spiritual Musick (SATB version)
Boosey & Hawkes 48024789
To the Spruce Creek High School chorus, Port Orange, Florida
Dr. David J. Redman, Director of Choirs
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano, snare drum, bass drum and triangle (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 2'44"
Text: Christopher Smart (1722 - 1771) From Jubilate Agno, fragment B, part 4
For the spiritual musick is as follows.
For there is the thunderstop, which is the voice of God direct.
For the rest of the stops are by their rhimes.
For the trumpet rhimes are sound bound soar more and the like.
For the Shawm rhimes are lawn fawn moon boon and the like.
For the harp rhimes are sing ring string and the like.
For the cymbal chimes are bell well toll soul and the like.
For the rest of the stops are by their rhimes.
For the flute rhimes are tooth youth suit mute and the like.
For the dulcimer rhimes are grace place beat heat and the like.
For the clarinet rhmes are clean seen and the like.
For the Bassoon rhimes are pass class and the like.
God be gracious to Baumgarden.
For the dulcimer are tather van fan and the like and grace place etcetera are of the bassoon,
For beat heat weep peep etcetera are of the pipe.
For ev'ry word has its marrow in the English tongue for order and for delight.
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
The Star Spangled Banner
Boosey & Hawkes 48005043
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Text: Francis Scott Key (1779-1843)
Duration: c. 1'30"
The words of our national anthem have taken on new significance for us after the events of September 11, 2001. In some ways it seems we are hearing these words for the first time. Listen with new ears. Sing with a new heart.
Still, Still, Still
Boosey & Hawkes 48004509
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: Gloria Musicae, David L. Brunner, conductor, Sarasota, Florida,
December 1992
Text: Traditional Austrian carol
Still, still, still,
Let all the world be still.
For Mary lays her son to rest,
Sings to Him softly at her breast.
Still, still, still,
Let all the world be still.
Sleep, sleep, sleep,
My dearest baby, sleep,
The angels all rejoice and sing,
Heav'n for your delight shall ring.
Sleep, sleep, sleep,
My dearest baby, sleep.
Joy, joy, joy,
My heart is filled with joy!
The God of love has left his throne,
Made this humble world his own.
Joy, joy, joy!
My heart is filled with joy!
The piano accompaniment provides a colorful harmonic underlay and feeling of momentum in this sensitive setting of the familiar Austrian carol. The rich, four-part choral texture is especially noticeable in a highly effective a cappella section.
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
The tuneful melody of this lovely Austrian carol is the focus of the choral texture, the piano accompaniment providing a colorful harmonic underlay and gentle feeling of momentum. It should not feel rushed, however, but relaxed enough to make clear and express the sometimes subtle inner harmonic movement. Although scored for SATB voices, unison children's voices may effectively be substituted for or double the soprano line.
sun, moon, stars, rain
Boosey & Hawkes 48020620
Commissioned for the PMEA Region IV Chorus Festival, Lackawanna Trail High School, March 29, 2008, Jodi Rinehimer, Host Director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'05"
First Performance: Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Region IV Chorus Festival,
Lackawanna Trail High School, Factoryville, Pennsylvania, David L. Brunner,
guest conductor, March 29, 2008
Text: e. e. cummings (1884-1962) everyone lived in a pretty how town
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did
women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then) they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain
I have always found e. e. cummings' poetry intriguing and was particularly drawn to this curious, multi-stanza verse, returning to it many times before choosing it as the text for this composition. As in all his poems, these words are subtle and enigmatic, with many double meanings.
The poem tells the story of "anyone" (you, I...) and the people of a superficial, humdrum "pretty how town" who lack a willingness for change. The overall theme is one of isolation, the individual independent from the rest of society, and the societies' intolerance of anything -- or anyone -- different.
The revolvin of seasons and weather indicates the passing of time, seasons become seasons but things stay the same. Even the children ( a common character of innocence in cummings' works) grow up and become "everyones." "anyone's" death is met with a resigned apathy (he "died i guess") as "busy folk buried them side by side" and life went on without interruption.
Some interpreters have suggested the poem is a criticism of blindly following social conventions, ,as well as society's intolerance of nonconformists. I encourage the reading of available commentaries to more fully understand the layers of meaning in this poem. This may also be an excellent opportunity for discussion with the singers, not only about the meaning of the words, but how to shape them in expressive performance.
I love the rhythm of these words and the turn of phrase and have set them in a syllabic, narrative way, exactly as they appear in the poem, without repetition or elaboration. The music has a sense of innocence, a sometimes playfulness, including the short melodic idea of what seems to be a children's play song. There is nothing very dramatic about the music -- a carefree tunefulness, rather limited range and homophonic texture. It simply tells the story without emotional implication or commentary. Perhaps this detachment is indicative of the townspeople's emotional disconnect, as well?
The poem has a reflective and poignant tone, one that I see as an affirmation of individuality and a call for willingness to acknowledge and accept all who are "different" -- perhaps even us.
Sweet Melody
Boosey & Hawkes 48023476
Commissioned by Celebration Community Chorus in memory of Paula Temple Patterson. Premiered in Celebration, FL, April 12, 2014, Kristopher Michael Schave, conductor.
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano.
Duration: c. 3'35"
First Performance: Celebration Community Chorus, Kristopher Schave, conductor, Celebration Community Church, Celebration, FL, April 12, 2014.
Text: Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829 - 1925)
Sweet melody amidst the moving spheres
Breaks forth, a solemn and entrancing sound,
A harmony whereof the earth's green hills
Give but the faintest echo; yet is there
A music everywhere, and concert sweet!
All birds which sing amidst the forest deep
till the flowers listen with unfolded bells;
All winds that murmur over summer grass,
Or curl the waves upon the pebbly shore;
Chiefly all earnest human voices rais'd
In charity and for the cause of truth,
Mingle together in one sacred chord,
And float, a grateful incense, up to God.
Commissioning Dr. Brunner to compose a memorial piece was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career and an exceptional growth opportunity for my community chorus. Dr. Brunner took great care to learn about the life of our Paula and the sentiments of her family and friends. He was very accommodating in the selection of text, providing me with numerous choices until we found just the right fit for the occasion. The first time I heard the finished composition I couldn't have been more pleased with the result. Dr. Brunner captured the grace of the text by crafting a beautifully moving melody and luscious harmonies designed to highlight the strengths of my chorus. His visit to one of our rehearsals provided my singers with an experience they still talk about months later. Dr. Brunner gave us insight into his composition process and worked with the singers to bring out their expressiveness. The piece was the highlight of our concert and was greeted with a standing ovation. Dr. Brunner created a lasting memorial for our Paula and a new staple in our standard repertoire.
Kristopher Schave, conductor
Celebration Community Chorus
This commission for the Celebration (FL) Community Chorus was initiated by their conductor (and my student) Kristopher Schave, in memory of Paul Temple Patterson, long-time member of the chorus and friend to the Celebration community.
The text is by Bessie Rayner Parkes, poet, essayist and journalist, who was one of the most prominent English feminists and campaigner for women’s rights in Victorian times. For her, music is everywhere – in birds, flowers, winds and waves -- but mostly in earnest human voices raised in charity and for the cause of truth. This “grateful incense” mingles together and floats, in one sacred chord, up to God.
The melodic phrases have gentle contours and the singing style is lyrical.
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Boosey & Hawkes 48004493
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Text: Traditional Spiritual
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: The University of Central Florida Chorus, David L. Brunner, conductor,
Orlando, Florida, April 1991
Los Cantantes de Manila
Darwin B. Vargas, conductor
Internationaler Kammerchor-Wettbewerb Marktoberdorf 2019
Coro Entrevoces
Digna Guerra, conductor
This traditional spiritual is treated in an expressive, upbeat and playful manner in this arrangement. It is rhythmically challenging -- a pervasive triplet feel with some interesting and unexpected twists. The melody sometimes approximates improvisatory gestures, bent pitches, and blues and gospel gestures. It is especially appropriate for more experienced high school, church and college choirs, but would serve as an approachable challenge for those less familiar with the style, as well.
Then, Now, Forever
TBA
Commissioned by The Children's Chorus of San Antonio in loving memory of Bob McCormick, founding Tour Director
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: Bill Worrell, Bob McCormick
Duration: c. 4'30"
First Performance: Children's Chorus of San Antonio, Marguerite McCormick, conductor,
San Antonio, Texas, May 1, 2005
See listing under Treble Choirs for annotation.
This is It!
TBA
For the 2013 North Dakota ACDA Middle School/Junior High Mixed Honor Choir
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: James Broughton
Duration: c. 2'15"
First Performance: North Dakota ACDA Middle School/Junior High Mixed Honor Choir, David Brunner, conductor, Grand Forks, ND, February 2, 2013
This We Know
Boosey & Hawkes 48004832
Commissioned by the Winton Woods High School Concert Choir and Varsity Ensemble, Cincinnati, Ohio, David M. Bell and Robert M. Hartigan, conductors
Voicing: SATB chorus a cappella
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: The Winton Woods High School Concert Choir and Varsity Ensemble,
David M. Bell, conductor, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 1998
Text: Chief Seattle
This we know.
The earth does not belong to us,
We belong to the earth.
This we know.
All things are connected
like the blood that unites one family.
All lthings are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the childrens of the earth.
We did not weave the web of life,
We are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web
we do to ourselves.
This We Know is thoughtful, earnest and subdued. Hypnotic, perhaps. The technical demands are not great, but the singing should be honest, sincere and heartfelt. The text reminds me of the fable of Indra's Net, the great net of heaven hung with jewels, which reflect every other jewel and each of us ad infinitum, and in which we are all connected.
TWIRL!
TBA
For the University of Michigan Summer Arts Institute Intermediate Choir and their directors Sandra Snow and Jerry Blackstone
Voicing: SAB chorus with piano
Text: Walt Kelly (1913-1973) The Pogo Song Book
Duration: c. 2'30"
First Performance: Summer Arts Institute Intermediate Choir, Sandra Snow, conductor,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, July 31, 1999
TWIRL! is a kaleidoscope of quick-silver vocal lines, tongue-twisting poetry, and racing rhythmic drive. It is a gem for middle school/Jr. High conductors who are looking for a piece that stretches vocalism and musicianship yet is representative of the adolescent penchant for fun, excitement, and pure adrenaline.
An especially wonderful component of this commission was the two-week residency of the composer who also taught musicianship classes and group composition to the students. Residencies are a marvelous means of encouraging composition among young singers who see live composers at work and play.
Sandra Snow
University of Michigan
The Unknown Region
(TBA)
For the Brevard Community Chorus of Eastern Florida State College and their director, Dr. Robert E. Lmab, in celebration of their 50 years of music making on Florida's Space Coast: 1969-2019
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 4'
Text: Walt Whitman
I know it not O soul,
Nor dost thou, all is a blank before us,
All waits undream'd of in that region, that inaccessible land.
Till when the ties loosen,
All but the ties eternal, Time and Space,
Nor darkness, gravitation, sense, nor any bounds bounding us.
Then we burst forth, we float,
In Time and Space O soul, prepared for them,
Equal, equipt at last, (O joy! O fruit of all!) them to fulfil O soul.
Unnamable God
Boosey & Hawkes 48024153
Commissioned by the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in recognition of Ben Lane's 25th anniversary as Cathedral Musician
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Text: A Book of Psalms, adapted by Stephen Mitchell
Duration: c. 3'
First Performance: University Chorus of the University of Central Florida, David L. Brunner, conductor, at the anniversary celebration concert for Ben Lane, Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, FL, October 2, 2016.
My choirs have been singing David Brunner's music for decades now -- both full chorus and treble music. We enjoy his lyrical lines, compelling rhythms, and familiar yet fresh harmonies, with a unique interpretation of every lyric. He is the master of discovering new and interesting texts. Desiring a new work to celebrate my employment anniversary, I knew that David would provide a fine composition with the perfect words for the occasion. I was pleased and energized by the entire experience of commissioning him. We agreed on a poem that he had researched, similar to a Biblical psalm but with contemporary sensibilities and some whimsical phrases too. David created a musical setting that was fascinating and exciting. It danced along in multiple meters with soaring and beautiful choral parts, a fun piano accompaniment that made we WANT to practice it, stunningly glorious moments that illuminated the words in more and more interesting ways, and an exhilarating climax that drove the audience to cheers and ovations! "Unnameable God" was the highlight of an epic celebration!
Canon Ben Lane
Cathedral Musician
Cathedral Church of St. Luke
Orlando, Florida
The Us of Me
Boosey & Hawkes 48004614
For Scott
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also available for tenor/bass chorus)
Duration: c. 3'
Text: David L. Brunner
The spark to light a thousand suns
lies deep within the human heart.
Its source but single, solitary,
flickers with uncertainty.
Yet when combined with kindred souls
combusts, ignites, is kindled, glows
with fervor and intensity.
It's warm embrace our lives impart.
Ignite the world with light to see,
to feel, to touch, to will, to be,
to laugh, to dance, to love per chance,
to celebrate the us of me.
This single light, this voice so small
swells full when joined each part with part.
Its vibrancy but yearns to glow
with equal strength in ev'ry heart.
For in such love, such unity,
lives all the stars and mystery.
True selves affirmed, unbound our souls,
all hearts embraced, our lives made whole.
This festive work is a secular anthem to our shared human experience, the potential in each of us and the necessity to affirm, support and nurture each other. A natural choice for concert, contest or festival performance, this is a significant contribution to the literature for today's choirs.
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
Viva la Musica!
Boosey & Hawkes 48022619
For the Whiteaker Middle School 2010-2011 Concert Choir, Andrew Thomas, director
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
J. W. Pepper Basic Library
Voicing: SATB a cappella chorus (also available for treble chorus)
Duration: c. 2'
Text: traditional
Viva la musica
Long live music
We recently had a piece commissioned by Dr. Brunner and couldn't have been more pleased. It was very singable with interesting melodies interweaving in a type of dance that was full of life and energy. The piece ranges from dynamic unison passages to broad harmonic passages with interesting chordal progressions. The choir was able to pick it up quickly but yet were challenged with some of the more difficult passages. Another quality piece by a quality composer!
Andy Thomas, Director
This short piece was written for the Whiteaker Middle School 2010-2011 Concert Choir and their director Andrew Thomas.
The strong, bold character is immediately evident in the unison exclamations of the opening fanfare. An imitative section follows with each voice singing an independent melody, yet characterized by similar rhythms and compatible phrase contours. The piece closes with a thick cluster of tones and a short, final exclamation of the text in unison.
The old round Viva la Musica is the source of the text and the style was inspired by Viva Tutti and other, similar well-known, robust songs. The text is very repetitive and there should be a sense of buoyancy, clarity and lightness in the articulation. A steady tempo, clear diction, and precise ensemble is important, as is an energetic feeling of rhythm. Though the singing is full and vigorous, there should be a dance-like quality.
Voice of My Song
Boosey & Hawkes #48021259
Commissioned by Newham Children and Young People's Services for the Newham Young People's Chorus
Voicing: SAB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 3'20"
First Performance:
Text: Scott P. Lounsbury
I. Voice of my song,
come find me
come, take me
to places of wonder, of
love's laughter long
Voice of my song,
come, shake me,
come make me
hear beauty in others' songs
joined to mine, strong.
Find in me tunes that are worthy of singing:
Rippling of melodies, harmonies bringing.
Point me to those who will hear my song ringing
Who'll join with me, choruses, free in our song.
II. Song of my heart,
come know me,
come show me
the laughter and joy
of the music of peace!
Song of my heart,
you seek me.
O, find in me
melodies old and new
--open, release!
Bear me away on the free flight of singing:
Meadows of melodies, all colors winging.
Revel within me the song we are ringing --
Rainbowed humanity, joined in one song!
III. Song of my people,
invite us,
delight us,
and teach us to treasure
the voice of each one.
Voice of all people
inspire us,
desire us
to value the gift,
to respect each one's song.
Course through us now: music's power we're singing!
Gone now the dirges to which we've been clinging.
Join us in grand celebration, we're ringing
in Joy of Humanity, joined now in song!
Good friends Jane Wheeler and James Biddulph have brought to the children of Newham in east London an extraordinary opportunity to embrace the music of the world -- classical and opera, popular, jazz and gospel -- in an urban setting of great diversity, people of all colors, regions, cultures and traditiions. They wanted this new piece to be about finding one's voice and identity, singing together away from judgment, for freedom, peace, love and respect. Their singers premiered Voice Of My Song in Royal Festival Hall on June 24, 2009.
There's a wonderful rhythm in Scott Lounsbury's words, a gentle rolling that carries us forward, the words falling naturally into a repeated triplet pattern. I like the sense of these phrases continually moving ahead, though unhurried, so there are few places to rest. When you have an opportunity to breathe, however, you can stretch the tempo a bit, in order to take a full breath. Though the lines are lyrical, make the dictiion clear. Enjoy the rhythm and rhyme and sing with intention toward important words and ideas. I've been true to the structure of the poem in the musical setting and you'll sense how the poet's words, though controlled by rhythm and rhyme, have a real feeling of freedom.
We Are the Music Makers
Boosey & Hawkes 48004613
For the 1995 Florida All-State Reading Chorus, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 5'15"
First Performance: The Florida All-State Reading Chorus, Jeff W. Reynolds, conductor,
Tampa, Florida, January 1995
Text: Arthur O'Shaugnessy (1844-1881)
Better choirs are sure to enjoy this ebullient, concert/festival work based on lines of a poem entitled "Ode" by Arthur O'Shaugnessy. A powerful, yet reflective expression of what it means for us to be musicians, to be "the dreamer of dreams... the movers and shakers of the world..." A choral tour de force!
J. W. Pepper & Son, Inc.
We Are The Music Makers was written for the 1995 Florida All-State Reading Chorus and their conductor Dr. Jeff Reynolds. The text is a mere few lines from Arthur O'Shaugnessy's Ode that speaks for the special feelings of being musicians, in many ways apart from the world, perhaps lonely and misunderstood, yet possessors of a far greater reality, the "movers and shakers of the world forever". Broad-breathed, arching phrases of the primary melody contrast with more atmospheric sections of color. Each should be sung expansively and with passion.
Well Sung Song
Boosey & Hawkes 48021244
For "Mama Sarah" Schutte, with love and thanks
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also scored for SAB)
Duration: c. 4'
Text: Scott Lounsbury
As you approach the last page of your score,
the allargando of resolving chords
implores you recollect with pride the tunes,
the counterpoints, the harmonies you've shared.
The Music of the Spheres is Life that's sung:
the living world is measured music's phrase
that's lofted, echoing in the highest vaults
to blend in anthem -- Universal Choir.
We sing our part in life, our love, our hope,
'tili once, at end, all reach the double bar
in presto, double forte "fine" or
with solaced echo, cadence set to rest.
It matters not the ending, nor the pace
of descrescendo, all will sing their part,
until caesura stops the breath mid-phrase,
when momentary silence greets the art...
... and loud applause rings out for well-sung song!
Little OL Korea Children's Choir
Ahra Cho, conductor
Much of my work is on commission, collaborations with new colleagues I’ve recently become acquainted with (or not yet met), or close friends with whom I have shared a long professional and personal history. There are other times, however, when a new work happens for no reason other than I want -- and need -- to write something for someone dear to me.
The most recent gift, Well Sung Song, for my “second mom”, Sarah Schutte, says what words alone cannot. My friendship with Sarah and her husband Charles goes back thirty-three years, with fond memories of many musical experiences, travel adventures, stories, laughter, and homemade blueberry pancake breakfasts. At the most difficult times of our lives, poetry and music may bring a bit of the transcendent.
Friend, musician and poet Scott Lounsbury describes our shared journey, destiny and closure in beautifully musical words.
The Wheel
Boosey & Hawkes 48019168
Commissioned by the Eastern Division and the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Choral Directors Association to honor our friend and mentor D. Douglas Miller
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: c. 5'20"
First Performance: Coro Allegro, David Hodgkins, conductor, Eastern Division
ACDA Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, February 2004
Text: Wendell Berry (b. 1934)
The Wheel
for Robert Penn Warren
At the first strokes of the fiddle bow
the dancers rise from their seats.
The dance begins to shape itself
in the crowd, as couples join,
and couples join couples, their movement
together lightening their feet.
They move in the ancient circle
of the dance. The dance and the song
call each other into being. Soon
they are one -- rapt in a single
rapture, so that even the night
has its clarity, and time
is the wheel that brings it round.
In this rapture the dead return.
Sorrow is gone from them.
They are light. They step
into the steps of the living
and turn with them in the dance
in the sweet enclosure
of the song, and timeless
is the wheel that brings it round.
I enjoy the experience of writing for a particular person or ensemble and this commission from the Eastern Division of the American Choral Directors Association was a wonderful opportunity to create something meaningful for Doug Miller and my many friends and colleagues, both in Pennsylvania ACDA and the Eastern Division.
The profound and elegant words of Wendell Berry resonate inside me. I like the idea of the dance, of coupling, of moving in graceful circles others have moved to, of the ancient round dance and the song being one, and of the wheel of time connecting us, bringing it all around again and again.
As in all my works, I ask that performers make sense of the words and shape the language and music, text and sound, together in a meaningful whole.
When Thou Commandest Me To Sing
TBA
Commissioned in celebration of the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble's 20th Anniversary Season, Dr. Timothy A. McMillin, conductor, and in honor of Dr. James Cox, founding director
Voicing: SSAATTBB chorus with piano
Text: Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Duration: c. 4'
First Performance: Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble, Timothy A. McMillan, conductor,
Des Moines, Iowa, May 20, 2012
The music of David Brunner radiates inspiration and expressivity. From David’s attention to selecting only texts of the highest integrity to his amazingly colorful, creative and lyrical setting of those texts, the music nearly sings itself.
Commissioning a work with David Brunner is a collaboration in the truest sense of the word. Not only did the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble receive a ‘grand slam’ of a musical piece, but we enjoyed the honor and privilege of David’s company and significant insights at the world premiere of the work. His humanity and humility allow the greatest form of collaborative artistry to become reality.
Tim McMillan, Artistic Director
Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble
Yo le Canto todo el Dia
Boosey & Hawkes 48004843
J. W. Pepper Editor's Choice
J. W. Pepper Basic Library
Voicing: SATB chorus with piano (also available for treble chorus and tenor/bass chorus)
Duration: c. 3'
Text: Anonymous
So I am moving with my heart,
So I am leaving with a drum,
I sing to you all day long
with affection and joy,
So I am leaving with a drum
with affection and emotion.
Sacramento Master Singers
Ralph E. Hughes, conductor
Conversation about Yo le Canto todo el Dia with Matthew van Dyke on the Choral Catalogue
The writing is rhythmic and angular, with strong contours and syncopated rhythms. The phrase that first appears in measures 13 - 16 and recurs often has a contrasting lyrical sensibility and should be phrased appropriately, while the refrain beginning in measure 32 (la la la) has a light, buoyant quality. The piano features prominently and should be strong and pedaled sparingly. Clapping should be bright, diction declamatory and crisp.
I've often been asked about the "y" of "j" consonant for "ya" and "yo" and have heard performances both ways. When I originally wrote this piece, a Venezuelan student of mine suggested that in less formal, "everyday" seech, it may be closer to the "j" sound and I like the percussive nature of that.
