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Variations on "O Christmas Tree" for clarinet choir enhances the familiar Christmas carol through a set of variations depicting the spirit of the traditional lyrics from the  opening "O Christmas tree you stand in verdant beauty," to the flavor of Three Kings  "bearing gifts," to the brighter "much pleasure dost thou bring me," to the light staccato of "its tiny light that makes each toy to sparkle bright," to the marcato style of "do not fade in winter's snow." All the parts contribute throughout the variations with the bass clarinet offering a solo touch of holiday cheer at the close.  The clarinet range extends to E6 in the 1st clarinet part and C6 and below for the other parts; rhythmically  as short as sixteenth notes with some triplets mostly in 3/4 meter. A total duration of  some 4 minutes.  First through 4th Clarinets (2 parts each); Alto Clarinet and  Bass Clarinet (1part each).

Variations on O Christmas Tree for Clarinet Choir

Clarinet Ensemble

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PROGRAM NOTES:  While living on the island of Guam in the Marianas Islands in the late 1960s, as a professor at the university, my wife and I were active in the music community. The time was during the Vietnam war and Guam, a U.S. territory, was our western-most support of the war effort for U.S. military forces. To understand this sacred choral work, let me take you back to a Sunday in 1968.  It is a Sunday morning service at the Naval Air Station non-denominational chapel where I served as music director.  Our Nation is fully engaged in the Vietnam war and everyone in the chapel is being touched in some way by the war.  The chaplain reads Psalm 70, "Make haste, O God," and its spiritual message seems to capture the despair surrounding us with the island and military community fully engaged in the war effort.  The psalm's message, however, gives us hope and consolation that through God's grace we can be "delivered" from the "confusion," the "pain," from that which "seeks after our soul," and for each of us to "rejoice and be glad" for the camaraderie, music making, and joy that surrounds us, especially living among the welcoming Chamorro people who suffered under Japanese occupation for three years.      

The composition captures this spiritual moment in music: the "pain" and "despair" through the dissonance;  the "seeking" through the contrapuntal and chant-like passages; the "rejoicing in God salvation" in the open sonorities and exciting rhythms; and comfort in reaching the resonance of major chords. The voices lie within normal ranges for TTB men; the primary challenge is singing the dissonant harmonies in an a cappella setting.  Singers should be coached to embrace and lean into the dissonances.  Thanks to the encouragement of Dr. Tim Fredstrom, director of the Illinois State University Men's Glee Choir, I revised various sections and re-scored the original SAB score for TTB men's voices. The work has received premiere performances from the University of Guam's Madrigal Choir,  the ISU Men's Glee Choir, and most recently, selected for the University of Arkansas Fort Smith's Men's Choir to be performed on the program of the College Music Society's South Central Conference (March, 2024).   DBW

Make Haste Oh God!

TTB Full Score

Rhapsody for Kay for Bb clarinet and piano is at times reflective, passionate, and celebratory in mood.  It is designed to show the technical abilities of the clarinet in range and timbre with the clarinet and piano sharing equal voices throughout the composition. Written to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary, its free, rhapsodic form expresses memories of courtship, marriage, and family--sharing times of joy and challenges along the road of a lifetime relationship.  The opening section should be treated as a recitative style with freedom in tempo and expression.  The inner section is a continued dialogue in partnership with the clarinet and piano. The closing section is a coming together of musical material portraying reflection on a life well lived.  Tempo and dynamic markings are broadly suggestive; given its rhapsodic nature performers should feel free to alter them to their personal interpretation of this musical celebration.

Rhapsody for Kay

Clarinet Solo with Piano

<p>Variations on "O Christmas Tree" is a delightful arrangement for flute choir that enhances the Christmas carol through variations depicting the spirit of the lyrics from the opening "O Christmas tree you stand in verdant beauty," to the flavor of Three Kings "bearing gifts," to the brighter "much pleasure dost thou bring me," to the light staccato of "its tiny lights that makes each toy to sparkle bright," to the marcato style of "do not fade in winter's snow." This set of variations is similar to the brass and clarinet versions, however each has subtle differences in the scoring to feature the instrumentation. All the parts contribute throughout the variations with the piccolo and bass flute offering a solo touch of holiday cheer at the close. The flute range extends to F6 in the 1st flute part, G6 in the piccolo, and E6 and below for the other parts; rhythmically as short as sixteenth notes with some triplets mostly in 3/4 meter. A total duration of under 4 minutes. First through 3rd Flutes (2 parts each); Piccolo, Alto Flute and Bass Flute(1 part each).</p>

Variations on O Christmas Tree for Flute Choir

Flute Ensemble

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Variations on O Christmas Tree for Clarinet Choir

Make Haste Oh God!

Rhapsody for Kay

Variations on O Christmas Tree for Flute Choir