Voice and Piano (High and Medium version)
Texts by Sara Teasdale
Plangere 2016
Printed and Digital scores available from the publisher
Dropbox to hear reference recordings
I Come, When the Pale Moon Like a Petal Floats
II To-Night for Us
III When I am Gone
IV Gifts
V My Heart is Heavy
VI As Sleepless as the Rain
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SATB a cappella
3.5 mins
Marjorie Pickthall
Purchase from composer
Commissioned by Jennifer Lang, University of Saskatchewan – Greystone Singers.
The text for After comes from Canadian Poet, Marjorie Pickthall’s “Three Island Songs” and speaks to themes that reflect our Canadian identity and interconnectedness with nature. Throughout the work there is a repeating musical gesture, first heard in the opening with the sopranos. This incessant repetition acts as if it were a heart beat pulsing through the song.The work winds and weaves around the repeating gesture with shifting harmonies and soaring lines in an attempt to reflect the imagery in the text. The music changes towards the end of the piece, as if to literally blossom, or as if the skies have just cleared after an afternoon rainstorm as clouds gleam, dawns rise and we are left basking in a serene state.
AFTER the wind in the wood,
Peace, and the night.
After the bond and the brood,
Flight.
After the height and the hush
Where the wild hawk swings,
Heart of the earth-loving thrush
Shaken with wings.
After the bloom and the leaf
Rain on the nest.
After the splendour and grief,
Rest.
After the hills and the far
Glories and gleams,
Cloud, and the dawn of a star,
And dreams.
Please purchase from me directly. PDF copies sent via email, $2 per member singing in the choir.
TTBB, Bass Drum and Violin
2.5 mins
Traditional SeaShanty of Newfoundland Canada
Purchase from composer.
Images of the sea and men hauling in large ships to dock. Commissioned by Amabile Young Men’s Ensemble and Primus. Accessible for men’s choir of all levels and sizes.
Email me for the score. PDF copies sent via email, $2.25 per member in the choir.
Unison and Piano
Text: Emily Dickinson
Duration: 2 min
Publisher: Boosey and Hawkes 2017
Commissioned by Amabile Choirs of London, Canada.
If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking is a setting of Emily Dickinson’s poem by the same name. The text illuminates themes of generosity and selflessness. It asks us to think of others before ourselves, encouraging us to reflect the need in today’s society for humility and thoughtfulness. This unison song has a melody that weaves in and out of the piano line, creating a contemporary feel with uplifting harmonies and appealing melodic gestures.
IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Published: Boosey and Hawkes 2017
Themes: love, death, life, nature, birds, vain, selflessness, ease, health, life, living, refuge
SATB a cappella
Duration: 5 min
Text: 16th Century
Boosey & Hawkes (April 2017) 979-0-51-48382-2
YouTube: https://youtu.be/enOjtz6w5GY
Winning entry in the Amadeus Choir Seasonal Song Writing Competition, Professional Category. Winning entry in the Brazos Valley Chorale Composition Competition.
A Boy Is Born is a lyrical anthem for the Christmas season. The work is built on a melodic gesture first found in the opening Soprano melody. This gesture is then passed between all voices throughout the piece. The middle section of the work is marked by a slower passage, with the Basses singing the melody and the Soprano, Alto and Tenor ‘floating’ above as if they were angels gathering to witness the miracle birth. A flowing, lyrical melody enwraps each verse marked by an Allelujah refrain motive. The song speaks to the serene and delicate moments inspired by the original latin text Puer Natus
A Boy is Born in Bethlehem!
Allelujah! Allelujah!
And joy is in Jerusalem,
Allelujah! Allelujah!
And there He lay in manger poor,
Allelujah! Allelujah!
Whose rein shall last for ever-more,
Allelujah! Allelujah!
And kings from out the East there were,
Allelujah! Allelujah!
With gold and frankincense and myrrh
Allelujah! Allelujah!
He came our souls to purify,
Allelujah! Allelujah!
and bring us safe to bliss on high
Allelujah! Allelujah!
Themes: Holiday, Christmas, Birth, SATB, Mixed Choir, Christmastide
SATB a cappella
Text:Henry Van Dyke
Duration: 2 min
Publisher: Pavane Publishing
Commissioned by the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada. From the publisher: Who doesn’t remember musical moments in their past, when singing became transcendent and the moment became a memory never to be forgotten? Henry Van Dyke’s poem recalls that time and Matthew Emery, the young Canadian composer attracting everyone’s attention, set it to song. You just want to sing it, that’s all that needs to be said. High school, college, festival, community choirs. Easy to medium.
Remember'd songs, most dear,
In living songs I hear,
While blending voices gently swing and sway
In melodies of love,
Whose mighty currents move,
With singing near and singing far away;
Sweet in the glow of morning light,
And sweeter still across the starlit gulf of night.
Themes: Remember, Remembrance, Love, stars, night, singing, dear, life
SATB a cappella
Duration: 4 min
Text: Marjorie Pickthall
Boosey & Hawkes
Winning entry in the 2014 DaCapo Chamber Choir NewWorks competition.
The music ebbs and flows with blossoming phrases and
captivating imagery of the text by Canadian poet, Marjorie Pickthall. The constant repetition of
the E further depicts life’s flow, while the final phrases articulate a sweeping motion as if to
portray a starry night and the repetition of the roads illustrating life’s long journey toward the
road’s final ending.
Give me a few more hours to pass
With the mellow flower of the elm-bough falling,
And then no more than the lonely grass
And the birds calling.
Give me a few more days to keep
With a little love and a little sorrow,
And then the dawn in the skies of sleep
And a clear to-morrow.
Give me a few more years to fill
With a little work and a little lending,
And then the night on a starry hill
And the road’s ending.
Themes: Night, Stars, Hill, Journey, Path, Road, Sky, Death, Longing, Love, Nature
SATB with Piano
Duration: 2.5 min
Text: Katharine Tynan
Pavane Publishing
Commissioned by the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada. Dedicated to Ken Fleet for the thousands of lives he has, and continues to inspire. From Pavane: This is the perfect song of encouragement from the poem by Katharine Tynan – be yourself – sing your song. Matthew Emery’s setting maintains a vitality that not only encourages but celebrates it. An excellent festival song for high school and college choirs, and community choirs too. Easy to Medium.
Sing your song
There’s music in my heart all day,
I hear it late and early,
It comes from fields are far away,
The wind that shakes the barley.
Sing your song
Above the uplands drenched with dew
The sky hangs soft and pearly,
An emerald world is listening to
The wind that shakes the barley.
Sing your song
Above the bluest mountain crest
The lark is singing rarely,
It rocks the singer into rest,
The wind that shakes the barley.
Sing your song
Oh, still through summers and through springs
It calls me late and early.
Come home, come home, come home, it sings,
The wind that shakes the barley.
Sing your song
Themes: singing, community, nature, summer, barley, fields, lark, birds, sky, coming together, life, joy, happiness, music, heart, longing, uplifting, mixed choir, easy
Unison and Piano
Duration: 2.5 min
Text: John Shaw Neilson
Boosey and Hawkes 2017
Commissioned by Amabile Choirs of London, Canada
Let Your Voice Be Heard sets Australian Poet John Shaw Neilson’s poem that evokes themes of respect and humility. The work is an uplifting anthem that encourages us to live life fully, with love and peace. The song combines a memorable melodic line and a steadfast piano accompaniment to deliver the message that everyone has a voice and the right to be heard and valued.
Let your song be delicate. The skies declare No war — the eyes of lovers Wake everywhere. Let your voice be delicate. How faint a thing Is Love, little Love crying Under the Spring.
Themes: singing, love, spring, life, peace, having a voice, respect, communicating, delicate, unison
SATB or TTBB a cappella
Duration: 3 min
Text: James Joyce
Cypress Choral Music
Written for the Amabile Men’s Choir. Please email me directly for either Mens or Mixed score until the published version is available.
Sleep now, O sleep now, O you unquiet heart! A voice crying ‘Sleep now’ Is heard in my heart. The voice of the winter Is heard at the door. O sleep, for the winter Is crying ‘Sleep no more!’ My kiss will give peace now And quiet to your heart – Sleep on in peace now, O you unquiet heart!
There is also a version for SATB choir and Strings (email me for the score)
Themes: death, love, longing, sleep, men’s, ttbb, peace
Dr. Matthew Emery 