SOLO VOCAL COMPOSITIONS

"THE BELLS"
VIDEO RECORDING. COMPLETE

Recorded by Colleen Daly and Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal
Red Bridge Studios
May 22, 2019

"THE BELLS"
AUDIO RECORDING. I, II, III, IV

I. SILVER BELLS

II. GOLDEN BELLS

III. BRAZEN BELLS

IV. IRON BELLS

​Et Misericordia
For soprano, Tenor and Alto with orchestra (from Magnificat)

Commissioned by the University of Sevilla, Spain

“Et misericordia eius ad progenie in progenies timentibus eum” starts with a bell call (piano) and literal quotation of the gregorian chant, followed by the singing of “et misericordia” by the trio soprano, alto and tenor, melting the melody in a warm harmonic progression with subtle unexpected resolutions.  In the mean time the rest of the phrase is recited in the background.

Colleen Daly, soprano, Duane Moody, tenor, and Jenna Lebherz-Daly, mezzo-soprano

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Advanced
​​Level of difficulty for the ensemble:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 3 minutes, 11 seconds
​
This individual movement is available with:
String ensemble accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Piano reduction accompaniment (two copies required)
Listen to the complete MAGNIFICAT ​and follow the recording with the score.

In the Beginning
​For soprano and piano

Commissioned by Colleen Daly for the St. Louis Concert series
Text by Rabindranath Tagore

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Intermediate
"Where have I come from, where did you pick me up?" the baby asked its mother.
She answered, half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast-
"You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling.
You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made the unmade you then.
You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you.
In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived.
In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.
When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it.
Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.
Heaven's first darling, twain-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart.
As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.
For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?" ​

Ring Out, Wild Bells
​​For soprano and piano

Commissioned by Colleen Daly for the St. Louis Concert series
Text by Alfred Lord Tennyson

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Advanced
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Advanced
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
   The flying cloud, the frosty light:
   The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
   The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
   For those that here we see no more;
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
   And ancient forms of party strife;
   Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
   The faithless coldness of the times;
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
   The civic slander and the spite;
   Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
   Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
   Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

​

​Et Exaltavit Humiles
For mezzo-soprano with orchestra (from Magnificat)

Commissioned by the University of Sevilla, Spain

“Et exaltavit humiles” (and lifting up the lowly) gently elevates the humble with a dialogue between the contralto, trumpet and oboe, while strings provide a flowing accompaniment that blends a rhythmic pizzicato and legato lines.

 Jenna Lebherz-Daly, mezzo-soprano

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the ensemble:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 2 minutes, 27 seconds
​
This individual movement is available with:
Orchestra accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
Listen to the complete MAGNIFICAT ​and follow the recording with the score.

Suscepit Israel
For soprano with string orchestra (from Magnificat)

Commissioned by the University of Sevilla, Spain

“Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae” (He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, to remember his promise of mercy) A soprano solo that navigates among a warm accompaniment of strings, in a sweet, almost ethereal and timeless environment with a broad range of expression from both the soloist and the orchestra.

Colleen Daly, soprano

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Very Advanced
​​Level of difficulty for the ensemble:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
​
This individual movement is available with:
Orchestra accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
VERSION FOR VOICE AND PIANO
VERSION FOR VOICE AND STRING ORCHESTRA
Listen to the complete MAGNIFICAT ​and follow the recording with the score.

Peace, My Heart
For soprano and piano, or soprano with string ensemble
(from Across the Wide: Songs of Farewell)

Commissioned by the Hughes family in memory of Bob and Ginny Hughes
Text by Rabindranath Tagore
Sung by Allison Hughes

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Low intermediate
Approximate length: 3 minutes, 46 seconds
Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.
Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.
Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.
Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.
I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way.
This individual song is available as:
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
​String ensemble accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Click here to listen to the complete cycle "ACROSS THE WIDE, Songs of farewell"

Two Butterflies
For soprano and piano, or soprano with string trio
(from Across the Wide: Songs of Farewell)

Commissioned by the Hughes family in memory of Bob and Ginny Hughes
Text by Emily Dickinson
Sung by Allison Hughes

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  High Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Advanced
Approximate length: 1 minute, 43 seconds
Two butterflies went out at noon
And waltzed above a stream,
Then stepped straight through the firmament
And rested on a beam;

And then together bore away
Upon a shining sea,--
Though never yet, in any port
Their coming mentioned be.
This individual song is available as:
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)piano, violin, viola, cello accompaniment (full score and all parts)

Score is going through revision.
It will be available as soon as it is ready

Fecit Potentiam
For tenor and baritone with orchestra (from Magnificat)

Commissioned by the University of Sevilla, Spain

“Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui, deposit potentes de sede” (He has shown strength with his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones). The music illustrates the lyrics, first alerted with three bell calls for attention, and the duet tenor and baritone proceed to present the statement with energetic yet angular singing lines, while the orchestra accompanies them with a scattered instrumentation in pizzicato, reflecting the image of the scattered crowds.

Duane Moody, tenor.  José Sacín, baritone

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Advanced
​​Level of difficulty for the ensemble:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
​
This individual movement is available with:
Orchestra accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
Listen to the complete MAGNIFICAT ​and follow the recording with the score.

Esurientes
For baritone solo with string orchestra (from Magnificat)

Commissioned by the University of Sevilla, Spain

“Esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes” (He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty) is a darker, dramatic description of the text, sung by the baritone fully wrapped up in dense strings that blend bitter and sweet harmonic turns, as illustration of the double statement “filling the hungry” and “sending away the rich empty”.

José Sacín, baritone

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Advanced
​​Level of difficulty for the ensemble:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 3 minutes, 40 seconds
​
This individual movement is available with:
Orchestra accompaniment (conductor score and all parts)
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
Listen to the complete MAGNIFICAT ​and follow the recording with the score.

Away in the Woods
For soprano and piano

Commissioned by Jonathan Cain and Shannon Dooling-Cain
Text by W.B. Yeats

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
My love, we will go, we will go, I and you,
And away in the woods we will scatter the dew;
And the salmon behold, and the ousel too,
My love, we will hear, I and you, we will hear,
The calling afar of the doe and the deer,
And the bird in the branches will cry for us clear,
And the cuckoo unseen in his festival mood;
And death, oh my fair one, will never come near
In the bosom afar of the fragrant wood.
This individual song is available as:
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)

Set Me as a Seal
For soprano and piano

Commissioned by soprano Colleen Daly
Text: The Song of Songs. King James Version. G.R.B., alt

​​Level of difficulty for the voice:  Intermediate
​​Level of difficulty for the pianist:  Intermediate
Approximate length: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
This individual song is available as:
Voice with piano accompaniment (two copies required)
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