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1 Ian Assersohn Choral and Vocal catalogue 2014 ian.appletreemusic.net 2 Contents Longer Works 3 Shorter pieces 5 Christmas 10 Choral arrangements 11 Thank you for your interest in the music of Ian Assersohn. Ian Assersohn studied composition with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music in London and with Peter Schaat and Louis Andriessen at the Koninklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag. Following a lifetime of involvement as a choral director, Ian today specialises in writing choral music which is accessible and rewarding to sing for amateurs and professionals alike. Ian is Musical Director of Leatherhead Choral Society, Concordia Singers and Epsom Male Voice Choir. For more information about any of these works, including free sample page downloads and audio extracts, please visit ian.appletreemusic.net or email [email protected] All shorter works are available as pdf files except the Christmas song Light A Candle published by Shawnee Press and the solo song Echo which is published by Recital Music. 3 Longer Works A Drop O' Nelson's Blood A collection of arrangements of sea shanties and forebitters for SATB choir and piano. Duration 25-30 minutes. The work's eight movements are available, and can be performed, independently, or as the set. They are: Ten Thousand Miles Away; Maggie May; Haul away Joe (with optional solo); A Drop O' Nelson's Blood; A-Rovin' (with optional solo and audience involvement); Spanish Ladies; The Capstan Bar; Leave Her Johnny In Memoriam A humanist requiem in one continuous movement for soprano and baritone soli, small orchestra and SATB chorus. The moving text interweaves poetry by Tennyson (from In Memoriam A.H.H) and Wordsworth (Intimations of Immortality) with part of the Jewish memorial service for the dead. Duration 35 minutes. Songs of Catullus A cycle of settings, in Latin, of poems by the Roman poet Catullus for SATB and chamber ensemble (fl, ob, timp, glock, hp, organ, vc) or small orchestra. The work was commissioned by Concordia Singers and first performed by them in 2013. The eight movements are called: Hymn to Diana; Let us live and love; His brother's grave; A Prayer: To Lesbia; Wedding Dance (instrumental); Lesbia's sparrow (soprano solo); The Old Falernian and Homecoming. The songs may also be performed individually Duration 30-35 minutes. The Song of Songs A full-length setting of one of the Old Testament's most glittering treasures and the world's most beautiful and mysterious love poem. Scored for soprano and tenor soli, SATB chorus, ensemble or two pianos and percussion Duration 40 minutes. The Song of Songs (in Hebrew Shir ha-Shirim), also known as the Song of Solomon, is collection of verses on the theme of love. Probably written about 3,000 years ago, the book appears in the Old Testament, despite having no obvious religious connotation. The main characters are a woman (the “Shulammite") and her mysterious lover, represented in this piece by the soprano and tenor soloists. The chorus variously represents the coupleʼs friends or comment on the action. 4 Lancelot Wins Again! A full-length musical for children loosely based on the legends of King Arthur, with story, dialogue and lyrics by the composer. Originally written for Cottesmore School in Sussex the musical has received multiple performances and is ideally suited to Year 6 or 7 productions. The characters are: Merlin (non-singing role), King Arthur, Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad and Sir Mordred with chorus of knights and ladies. The action is fast-paced, the music is tuneful and memorable and incorporates a range of styles, and the lyrics are witty, and often very funny. from "The Ballad of Tristan And Isolde" When Sir Tristan met Isolde he went right ahead and told her That he loved her and he didn't care who knew, Then he took her by the shoulder and began to kiss and hold her And Isolde told Sir Tristan "I love you". Well the only awkward thing was she was married to the king, And he found out that she's been seeing someone new, And he nearly hit the ceiling when he learned what she was feeling For a man she'd only known since half past two. 5 Shorter Pieces As the rain hides the stars - Shortlisted for the 2014 Nicola Dando prize SATB a cappella Duration 4' 55" A sonorous setting of a Gaelic prayer. Blow northerne wynd SSAATTBB or TTBB Duration 3'33" A lively, rhythmical setting in a modal style of an anonymous fourteenth century English text. By the rivers of Babylon SATB a cappella Duration 2'55" An a cappella setting of the opening of Psalm 137. Corinna's lute SATB a cappella Duration 3'24" A setting of a love poem by the sixteenth century composer and poet Thomas Campion. Crossing the bar - winner of the 2014 CIMVCF competition SATB, TTBB or SSA and piano Duration 2'56" A rhapsodic song with a warm harmonic texture to the text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Originally written for men's voices but also available for upper or mixed voices. Suitable for mixed, male voice or community choirs. Dona nobis pacem Soprano solo, choir and piano (or chamber orchestra) Duration 4'32" A call for peace with a touching melodic line which builds to a stirring climax. Echo Mezzo-soprano solo Duration 3'55" Echo is an austere and evocative setting of Christina Rossetti's words. "Its simple and accessible vocal line is contrasted by a more restless accompaniment offering music of great clarity and atmosphere. The slow moving and adventurous chordal harmonies help to create a bleak and static effect producing a song of powerful intensity and depth." Evening song SATB and piano Duration 2'39" A simple anthem with a memorable melody on a text from Luke's gospel. 6 Fear no more One or two solo voices and piano Duration 3'24" A gently lyrical setting of the famous song from Shakespeare's Cymbeline. This flexible arrangement may be sung by either one or two mezzo-soprano or baritone solo voices. Feste's song SATB (with solo) a cappella. Duration 2' A lilting setting, with a call-and-response structure, of a song from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The solo may be sung by either one or two singers of any voice. From So Simple A Beginning SATB and piano Duration 3' 50" A setting of the final few words from Darwin's The Origin of Species. Written for the British Humanist Choir. Futility SATB a cappella Duration 2'41" The bleakness and anger of Wilfred Owen's text is both offset and highlighted by the music's warm harmonies and tender dissonances. Suitable for Remembrance-themed concerts. High flight SATB and piano Duration 2'36" Written to a text by John Gillespie Magee, the song expresses the joy and exuberance of a young airman tasting the freedom of flight. Suitable for Remembrance-themed concerts. In Flanders fields SATB a cappella Duration 4'15" A melodic setting of the famous threnody by John McCrae which evokes both the poem's evocative, elegaic mood and its fervent call to arms. Suitable for Remembrance-themed concerts. Leisure 2-part upper-voices and piano Duration 2'36" The famous text by William Henry Davies begins: "What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?". Popular with school or community choirs, this simple but memorable song can quickly be learned by rote but, through the use of canonic imitation between the parts, builds up an impressively textured effect. 7 Loveliest of trees SA Men (with soprano solo) and piano Duration 3'15" A straighforward setting of the A.E. Housman's paean to the cherry tree, poem XXIII from A Shropshire Lad. Lullaby SATB a cappella Duration 1'20" A gently melodic setting, with luxuriant harmonies, of a song from "The Woman Hater" by Jacobean playwrights Francis Beaumont & John Fletcher. Mary Bateman SATB and piano Duration 3'46" A melodic setting of John Clare's folksong-like poem of lost love. My true love SATB or Upper voices and piano Duration 2'13" A gentle setting with a simple, graceful melody of the beautiful poem by Sir Philip Sidney, this was written for the BHA Choir as a humanist wedding song Now winter nights enlarge SATB a cappella Duration 2'30" An approachable, contemporary-with-a-hint-of-madrigal, setting of a text by the sixteenth century composer and poet Thomas Campion. O Death! Rocke me asleep SATB (with optional soprano solo)and piano Duration 5'11" A gentle, lilting song, with a hint of a slow gospel feel, on a text attributed to Anne Boleyn. Prayer SA Men and piano/organ Duration 1'50" A simple yet affective anthem in three parts to a text by the metaphysical poet George Herbert. Remember SATB a cappella Duration 2'21" Written for Leatherhead Choral Society, this is a contemplative setting of the haunting poem by Christina Rossetti. 8 Sing as one SATB, TTBB or SSA, with piano Duration 3'15" A joyful song about the pleasures of choral singing. Winner of the 2010 Making Music composition competition. Sing as one was selected as a competition piece for the 2013 Leith Hill Musical Festival. "The jewel of the short pieces was undoubtedly Sing as One. It was wonderfully rhythmic and uplifting, as it celebrated the joys of singing together. Nothing could better express the pleasure of participating in the Festival." Soles occidere SATB a cappella Duration 2'59" This is a setting, in Latin, of lines from poem 5 by the ancient roman poet Catullus. "Suns may set, and suns may rise again: but when our brief light has set, our night is one long everlasting sleep." The passionate shepherd SATB and piano Duration 3'51" A light-hearted setting in the style of a drinking song of the famous text by Christopher Marlowe which begins "Come live with me and be my love". The soldier SATB with optional organ or piano Duration 3'31" Rupert Brooke's poem which begins "If I should die, think only this of me" is familiar to many, and this setting captures all the poem's wistful, elegiac mix of sadness and optimism. Suitable for Remembrance-themed concerts. The song of the flowers SA Men and piano Duration 2'13" This gentle, simple 3-part song, with text by the composer, was written for the Wisley RHS workplace choir and is suitable for community choirs. The street sounds to the soldiers' tread SATB and piano or brass quintet Duration 1'38" One of several A.E. Housman settings, this is an evocative setting of poem XXII from A Shropshire Lad. Like many of the poems in A Shropshire Lad this text touches on the theme of war and soldiering, making this setting, with its march-like rhythms and slightly dissonant harmonies, very suitable for Remembrance-themed concerts. 9 The widow bird TTBB and piano Duration 1'34" A setting for men's voices of a beautiful and deceptively simple poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which evokes the wintry scene and the ceaseless turning of the mill-wheel described in Shelley's text. The winds out of the west land blow SATB a cappella Duration 4'07" One of several A.E. Housman settings, this setting of poem XXXVIII from A Shropshire Lad captures the poem's wistful, slightly bitter, mood. Waving SSA and piano Duration 3'52" A moving song, with text by the composer, about the women left behind when the men go to war. Suitable for community choirs and for Remembrance-themed concerts. Written for the Culdroses Military Wives Choir White in the moon SATB a cappella Duration 2'11" One of several A.E. Housman settings, this is an evocative setting of poem XXXVI from A Shropshire Lad: "White in the moon the long road lies That leads me from my love. 10 Christmas Beautiful star of Bethlehem SATB and piano A carol arrangement in an American country style. Blah blah Bethlehem SATB and Piano "The only choral carol you will ever need". A warm-hearted satire on traditionally cosy carols. Deck the hall, stairs and landing SATB or 2-part mixed voices and piano A humorous song in which a husband and wife discuss her lavish Christmas decoration plans. Deo gratias SATB (div) and piano An energetic and rawly powerful 8-part setting of the fifteenth century macaronic verse "Adam Lay Ybounden". Every Christmas has a new beginning SATB and piano An original Christmas song in which an unhappy man is inspired with new hope when he hears distant voices singing Christmas songs. Light a candle SATB and piano A humanist carol reflecting on the symbolic meaning of a midwinter festival of light. Light a candle was a finalist in the 2010 Waverley Care Carol Competition and is published in the US by Shawnee Press. Te harinui SATB (or SAMen) and piano This simple but very effective arrangement of New Zealand's favourite carol is Ian's most frequently requested arrangement. The new year child SATB and piano An original Christmas song on the connection between the turning of the year and the image of rebirth. Try to remember Unison voices and piano An original Christmas song about a nostalgic yearning for the excitement that Christmas held when we were children. Suitable for children's and community choirs. 11 Choral Arrangements A drop o' Nelson's blood SATB and piano. A rollicking stamp-and-go shanty. A-rovin' SATB with optional solo and audience involvement and piano. An ever-popular sing-along folk song. Cambric shirt SATB a cappella. Cambric shirt is an old folksong with a mysterious character. This arrangement, based on a version by Craig, Morgan, Robson, uses simple, authentic harmonies to tell the story. Haul away Joe SATB with optional solo and piano. A tack-and-sheet shanty with an authentic call-and-response structure. High Barbaree SATB and piano. An arrangement of an old sea-faring ballad. It's a long way to Tipperary TTBB or SATB and piano An arrangement of the famous WW1 song by Judge & Williams, complete with a verse of the alternative, soldiers', lyrics (That's the wrong way to tickle Mary..."). I want to go home TTBB or SATB a cappella An arrangement that captures both the surface humour and the darker emotion behind this WW1 soldiers' song. John Anderson, my jo SATB and piano. A short, simple (mainly 2-part) setting of the Robert Burns poem to an original melody in a folksong style. Keep the home fires burning TTBB or SATB and piano A stirring arrangement of Ivor Novello's youthful masterpiece. Leave her Johnny SATB and piano. A pump shanty sung as the last song on a voyage. 12 Maggie May SATB and piano. A lively foc'sle song from Liverpool. Scarborough fair SA Men a cappella. An authentic-sounding arrangement in three parts, suitable for community choirs. Spanish ladies SATB and piano. In its minor key version this eighteenth-century naval song has a wistful atmosphere all its own. Ten thousand miles away SATB and piano. A broad and atmospheric shanty. The capstan bar SATB and piano. A capstan shanty evoking the slow, heavy work of heaving the capstan round. There's a long, long trail a-winding TTBB or SATB a cappella A barbershop/Edwardian partsong style arrangement of a song by Zo Elliott popular in WW1 and which features in Oh What A Lovely War. Yarmouth town SATB and optional ukulele and/or percussion. A fast-paced, light-hearted arrangement of this famous folk song.