This is one from a collection of 7 gospel songs from the late 18th, 19th and early 20th Century, in their original versions, as arranged for clarinet quartet. The arrangements differ from the choral originals for instrumental purposes in that: some repeated notes in the lower instruments are merged into single long notes various notes are slurred or made into staccatos and fermatas (pauses) are recreated as extended notes and bars, where it makes musical sense to do so. These arrangements are also available as a bundle of 7 (7 Songs of Glory ) for $25 and also separately, at $4.00 each: The Glory Song (C H Gabriel) I Need Thee Every Hour (Robert Lowry) Count your Blessings (E O Excell) Just As I Am (W Bradbury) O for a thousand tongues to sing (Charles Wesley) (Hymn tune known as Lyngham) Tell me the old old story (W H Doane) Trust and obey (D B Towner) In each case the pdfs contain score and parts and the sound samples are electronic previews. I plan to create extended versions, with my own variations, in due course, but these versions are basically transcriptions of the originals.

Soon May the Wellerman Come, also known as Wellerman is a well-known whaling song. The song frequently refers to the "wellermen", supply ships owned by the British Weller brothers who emigrated to New Zealand. The song was probably written in New Zealand around 1860?1870. The lyrics describe a whaling ship called the Billy o' Tea and its hunt for a right whale. The ship's crew hope for a "wellerman" to arrive and bring them supplies of luxuries, with the chorus stating, soon may the wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. This arrangement is playable by SSAB or SSSB Clarinet Quartet. This chantey has become quite popular recently and is suitable for a variety of performance settings and concert programs. Duration is 2:46. Contact me at james.pybus@rogers.com.