The Confidence Sheet Music to download and print

The Confidence

High voice and piano - Moderately Difficult - Digital Download SKU: MQ.8454-2E Composed by David Conte. Secular, 21st century. Instrument part. 6 pages. E. C. Schirmer Music Company - Digital #8454-2E. Published by E. C. Schirmer Music Company - Digital (MQ.8454-2E). English.American Death Ballads was composed especially for tenor Brian Thorsett. We have been frequent collaborators since 2011, when he premiered the complete set of my Three Settings of W. B. Yeats for string quartet and tenor. At his urging, I transcribed and published my Three Poems of Christina Rossetti (originally for medium voice) for high voice, which he premiered at the San Francisco Conservatory in 2014. American Death Ballads was premiered by him at the San Francisco Conservatory, November 1, 2015, with pianist John Churchwell, and at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference in Chicago, July 10, 2016, with pianist Warren Jones.The choice of texts for my American Death Ballads was inspired partly by Coplandâ€™s Old American Songs, which I deeply admire, but more by my dear friend and colleague the late Conrad Susaâ€™s Two Murder Ballads. The ingenuity of Susaâ€™s accompaniments for his ballads in imagining anew the original source material owes a great deal to Coplandâ€™s accompaniment for his songs. Though the content of my songs is completely original and not based on preexisting melodies, I have tried to expand on this further, as the texts are much longer, and go through many different moods and characters. The four texts I chose include stories about murder, death, and dying. Though two of the texts were written in England, they traveled to the colonies almost immediately. The subjects of the texts had spent time in America, and their stories were well known to Americans.Wicked Polly is a cautionary tale. Polly has lived a dissolute and immoral life, saying, 'I'll turn to God when I grow old.' Suddenly taken ill, she realizes that it is too late to repent. She dies in agony and is presumably sent to hell; young people are advised to heed. My musical setting is stately and preacherly in character for the narrator; for Polly it becomes pleading and remorseful. The Unquiet Grave was brought to the attention of Alan Lomax, the great American field collector of folk music, by English folk singer Shirley Collins. The text is taken from an English folk song dating from 1400. In The Unquiet Grave, a young man mourns his dead lover too fervently and prevents her from obtaining peace. The dead woman complains that his weeping is keeping her from peaceful rest. He begs a kiss; she tells him it would kill him. When he persists, wanting to join her in death, she explains that once they were both dead their hearts would simply decay, and that he should enjoy life while he has it. My setting is in a flowing Andante with a rocking accompaniment. Three voices are delineated here: the narrator, the mournful lover, and the dead lover speaking from the grave. The Dying Californian first appeared in the New England Diadem in 1854. Its lyrics are based on a letter from a New Englanderâ€™s sailor to his brother who is dying at sea while on the way to California to seek his fortune in the California gold fields. He implores his brother to impart his message to his father, mother, wife, and children. My setting opens with the singer alone in a moderate dirge tempo, then, joined by the piano, moves through many tonalities and moods before ending with supreme confidence as the speaker 'gained a port called Heaven/Where the gold will never rust.'Captain Kidd was a Scottish sailor who was tried and executed for piracy and murder in 1701. The American connection to this ballad is that Kidd escaped to America and for a time lived in New York and Boston, though he was a wanted criminal by the British authorities and was extradited to Britain, where he was hung at 'Executionerâ€™s Dock.' The lyric was printed in Britain in 1701, traveling to the colonies almost immediately. Though the didactic tone of the text is similar to Wicked Polly, it expresses no regret until the final lines: 'Take warning now by me, and shun bad company, / Lest you come to hell with me, for I must die.' My setting is fast and spirited, expressing the confidence of a man who lived life as he wanted. -David Conte.

Brass Ensemble - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1027894 Composed by William Elsom. Contemporary. Score and parts. 46 pages. Will Elsom #3053855. Published by Will Elsom (A0.1027894). Programme Notes Boudicca became the Queen of the Iceni upon the death of her husband, Prasutagus. The Iceni had lived in relative peace with the Romans, with Prasutagus living as a client king, paying tribute to Rome. The Romans refused to accept a woman as the ruler, and sought to assume total control. To demonstrate its superiority, a Roman Legion attacked the Iceni, captured Boudicca and made her watch as her daughters were raped. She sought revenge, allying the Iceni with the Trinovantes under her command, and wreaked havoc, destroying many Roman settlements. Boudicca was only stopped when Rome sent one of the best generals of the time, Seutonius Paulinus. Seutonius has been depicted offering Boudicca surrender with honour and her life, but when she rejected this, his tactical acumen proved superior, and all the Iceni and Trinovantes were wiped out. 1 â€“ Boudicca Unites the Tribes The piece opens with the initial statement of Boudiccaâ€™s theme. Figure 3 depicts Boudiccaâ€™s reign as the leader of the Iceni, interspersed with a sadder theme depicting her lonely widowhood. Figure 4 sees the tribes called together with a drinking song and Figure 5 is the war cry, as Boudicca gives a rousing speech, first to her own warriors then to the Trinovantes. The second time bar before Figure 7 sees the tribes fall into a restless sleep. Amid early morning mists, Figure 7 sees restless horses, with distant fanfares heard, signalling the coming of the Romans. The Romans main theme is at Figure 8, with a constant fanfare over the top, signalling the confidence of the leaders. Figure 10 sees the Iceni and Trinovantes coming slowly out of hiding, and Boudiccaâ€™s theme growing in volume until the death chords signify the tribes have prevailed. 2. The Bards Sing The tribes sing a hymn to an unnamed Pagan God. At Figure 13, the Euphonium develops Boudiccaâ€™s theme depicting Taranis, the Bard of the Iceni, singing wistfully of happier times. He then makes an impassioned speech for peace, before cutting off in mid sentence. He then sits quietly (Figure 16) fearing the future. Figure 17 gives a euphoric and hopeful rendition of the hymn, as if Taranis has not been heard. 3 â€“ Epping NB: It is my piece, and I say Epping is as credible as anywhere as the site of the final battle, and will not enter into any correspondence on the matter! A fanfare awakens the two tribes. Figure 18 sees the tribes prepare for a final battle, and the repeated section depicts two victories at Verulanium (St Albans) and Londinium (London â€“ then a small barracks). At Figure 20 Taranis has a vision, and tries to change Boudiccaâ€™s mind about another attack. Boudicca listens to him, but tells him the die is cast, and there is no going back. Death or Gloryâ€¦ The war cry ensues at Figure 21, but at Figure 22 it is the Romansâ€™ theme heard, and the death chords (Figure 24) signify that it is the two tribes that are being slaughtered this time. Brave souls (Repiano and Flugel at 24) fight on in vain to allow Boudicca to escape. At Figure 25 Boudicca prays, but realising all is lost, at Figure 26 drinks poison. As she dies, the last thing this brave British heroine hears is the sound of the Romanâ€™s theme, signifying Seutoniusâ€™ total victory. William Elsom, December 2004