Composing soulful and expressive choral music has been the trademark of Alwin Michael Schronen for many years. .A hauntingly beautiful testimony to that is his arrangement of Sally Gardens for three-part choir (SAB) and piano. This traditional Irish folk song is based on one of the first love poems by William Butler Yeats. Its melody is characterized by simplicity and catchiness which are maintained by Schronen in a clean and natural manner in an easy-to-play choral setting for one male and two female voices singing in unison over long passages and are only seldom .devided into .three voices. The warm sounds of the easily playable piano accompaniment emphasize the melancholy and touching air of this wonderful Irish folk tune. A catchy tune - guaranteed!

This pretty song expresses the sadness many of us experience in winter, and our hopeful longing for spring. Arranged for S(S)A choirs, it is perfect for any secular fall or winter concert. The simple harmonies make it suitable even for beginning choirs. An SAA version at early intermediate level is also available.

A rehearsal/performance piano backing track is also available.

Joanna Mills was the Gospel Choir Director at Roncesvalles United Church in Toronto, Canada, for almost 20 years and has been writing and arranging choral music for 15 years. Her compositions and arrangements are performed regularly by her own choir and others around the world and have won awards in songwriting competitions. She also teaches musical theatre, voice and piano.

Skye Boat Song is one of my favoryte folk songs from the British Isles. "Skye" refers to the Island of Skye, a large island off the northwest coast os Scotland. There are several texts to this song; all refer, more or less, to an uprising of Scottish dissidents against the English is 1745-46. After their defeat, they fled to the Island of Skye. The text used here by the poet Robert Louis Stevenson. Scholars attribute the first half of the melody to an old se chantey and suspect thea the second half may have benn written by Annie MacLeod.

This arrangement, featuring a solo Soprano and SSA choir with Piano accompaniment, reharmonizes the traditional folk song with a contemporary twist. This arrangement would work well for any a cappella high school, college, or community choir looking for modern arrangements of traditional folk songs.