Brixton Publications - Voice, Sheet Music

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Voice and one other instrument
Voice in chamber music
Vocal CDs

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Voice and one other instrument (in alphabetical order)

THE ASPHALT BLANKET (1995) for narrator & alto flute (or C flute) by Howard J. Buss is the fifth movement of the composition Modern Times. This work is reflective and laments what is lost in the name of “progress” in the modern world. Recorded on the Capstone Records CD Howard J. Buss: Modern Times, available from Brixton Publications, (3’10) Grade V.
Sound Sample.mp3

THE BEAUTY OF NATURE for voice and piano, words and music by Marc Douyon, speaks of happiness when we look at Nature as art, teacher, healer, and provider. It evokes the importance of the laws of Nature, and how we depend on them. It also recognizes Nature as a force. The intimacy between the singer and the pianist highlights the emotions expressed in the text and the music. Since the range of the vocal solo is from B3 to G5 , it is especially suitable for medium voice, but most sopranos, altos, and tenors will find it comfortable to sing. (3') Grade III-IV.
Sound sample: Excerpt.mp3 - YouTube video

FRAGMENTS OF YOUR ANCIENT NAME “Five Meditations on the Divine” for high voice and flute by Roger C. Vogel.The 5 songs may be sung individually or in small groups. Alternate notes are indicated for a medium voice. Throughout different cultures the divine is experienced in many ways, and it is known by many names. This work contains 5 inspirational responses to different aspects of the divine: Morning Star, Krishna, Door, Ocean of Joy, and Lord of the Dance. (12’30”) Grade IV-V. YouTube Videos: Mvt.1, Mvt.2, Mvt.3, Mvt.4, Mvt. 5

THE FROG, HE FLY...ALMOST (2000) by Roger C. Vogel is an entertaining and humorous look at the amazing amphibian. The vocal range is c# (below the treble staff) to Bb above the staff. A great addition to any recital. (5’) Grade V. Sound Sample.mp3
Text: The Frog, He Fly...Almost (Anonymous)
What a wonderful bird the frog are--
When he stand he sit almost;
When he hop, he fly almost.
He ain’t got no sense hardly;
He ain’t got no tail hardly either.
When he sit, he sit on what he ain’t got almost.

REMEMBERING RIVERS (1995) for narrator & flute by Randall Snyder is a setting of Esther McCloud’s poignant tribute to Douglas Dyer, who died of AIDS , and is intended as a memorial to all of the victims of the disease. The poem’s principle riverine metaphor is mirrored by the flute’s serpentine line that ebbs & flows with the intensity of the words. (5’) Grade V.
Sound Sample: Excerpt.mp3

LAND OF THE FARTHER SUNS (1992) for narrator & piano by David Alpher. The text is from the poetry of Stephen Crane. The work is constructed in the manner of a song cycle, only with narration rather than singing. The music is modern, yet accessible, and contains sections in a jazzy vein. Finalist in the 1996 Newly-Published Music Competition of the National Flute Association. ( 20’) Grade V.
LOVE LETTERS (2002) by Roger C. Vogel is an entertaining song cycle based on texts that represent the many different aspects of the universal emotion of love: from longing, exuberance, excitement, and playfulness to sorrow and despair. The songs may be performed individually. The work is published in two versions, each with a different instrumentation and number of songs..

Version for high voice (soprano or tenor), violin & piano includes:

1. Your Letter Moved Me 2:29
2. I Lie Awake 3:52
3. Dear Miss West Forty-seventh Street 1:49
4. My Dearest Nell (voice and piano) 7:45
5. The French Ladies 3:39
6. My Darling Dear, Delightful Ringo 2:57
7. Have You Heard That I Love You (voice and violin) 3:07
8. Alas! I have Suffered Your Scorn! 11:36
9. Everything Measurable Passes 1:45
10. Interlude (violin and piano) 2:59
11. Adieu, I Seal My Letter 4:36

Videos of the songs in the version for voice & piano:
1.Your Letter Moved Me 2:29
2.I Lie Awake 3:52
3.Dear Miss West 47th Street 1:49
4.My Dearest Nell (voice and piano) 7:45
5.My Darling Dear, Delightful Ringo 2:57
6.Adieu, I Seal My Letter 4:36
Note: The version for high voice, violin, & piano is recorded on the OASIS CD Love Letters, available from Brixton Publications CD-109.

OBOE (1996) for oboe & medium voice by Roger C. Vogel was written for oboist Dwight Manning. It is a humorous setting of Laurence McKinney’s poem Oboe. The comical effect of the music and text is enhanced by theatrical gestures by the performers. These are suggested in the score at the appropriate time. For example, before the music commences, the performers are given the following direction: "Enter with great dignity. The oboist should try several reeds before choosing one while the singer becomes somewhat impatient." From that point on there is an amusing tension created between the performers with directions such as (to the singer), "glare at oboist." Or (to the oboist), "Lip down as much as possible, shrug shoulders and begin next phrase." This entertaining composition is a hit with all types of audiences. It is certainly a piece that should be in the repertoire of every oboist. The vocal range is from D below the treble staff, to Gb above the staff. (The Gb occurs once..) (5’30”) Grade IV-V.
Sound Samples: Excerpt 1.mp3; Excerpt 2.mp3

TAKE TIME "Wisdom Woven into Five Lines" for medium voice and marimba by Roger C. Vogel. Wise thoughts may be expressed in short statements. Sister Maria Virginia Silvano, IHM has written a number of such thoughts in poems of 5 lines called “Cinquains.” Take Time consists of 5 songs: Take Time, Open Your Heart, Toot Not Your Horn Too Much, Cancelled Because of Snow, and Flowers. They may be sung individually or in small groups. A 4.5 octave marimba is perferred for this composition. Optional notes have been provided for performance on a 4.3 instrument. (11'30") Grade IV. B944 $24.00 - YouTube video
WHERE NOW RUSTS THE IRON? (1994) by Howard J. Buss is a dramatic tribute to the composer’s grandfather who, like many ironworkers in his day, worked under brutal conditions with the dream of making life better for future generations. “A moving work touching our communal soul.” (8’) Grade IV- V. - Version for high voice (soprano or tenor) and piano
Score sample: Excerpt.pdf

Text: “Where Now Rusts the Iron?”
Homes now stand where once the foundry coughed.
Countless tons of iron -
wheels and pans,
boilers and pipes,
latches and plates.
Countless train loads of hardware
shrieked from the pounding, grimy world within.

Iron converted from life itself,
energy given form.
Precious moments, days, and years
poured into molds and sealed
amid the ashes and dust,
always ashes and dust,
suspended in life-stealing air.

The graves of the workers overlook this place,
their fam’lies spread afar.
Season come and go, yet frozen in mem’ry
are the days of youth spent in toil, hope, and purpose.
Where now rusts the iron once cast by pounding hearts,
releasing the dreams, the souls,
invested in tough, cold metal?

The foundry still stands among the houses,
coughing on smoke-laden air.
Invisible as the iron once made,
its souls as mist remains. - Howard J. Buss
Copyright © 1994 by Brixton Publications

Voice in chamber music (in alphabetical order)

CHRISTMAS LONG AGO for voice and flute choir by Roger Vogel is based on a beautiful, picturesque poem by Jo Geis. It is scored for flute/piccolo, 3 C flutes, alto flute in G, bass flute, and includes a part for optional contrabass flute. The range of the vocal solo is from Eb4 to G5, it is especially suitable for medium voice, but most sopranos, altos, and tenors will find it comfortable to sing. (3’45”) Grade IV. B945
Sound sample: Excerpt.mp3

THE DEVIL’S SONGBOOK “Eight Irreverent Songs” (1993) for medium or high voice, bassoon (or cello or contrabass) and piano by Roger C. Vogel is based on humorous texts that explore various aspects of human nature. The songs are Of Politicians (lyrics by William Shakespeare and Hilaire Belloc), Of Businessmen (lyrics by Mark Twain), Of Critics and Music (lyrics by Robert F. Murray, Charles Lamb, and the composer), Of Vanity (lyrics by James Thomson), Of Attorneys (lyrics derived from an anonymous quote on the Headstone of Mr. Jonathan Gill, Esq. who died February 6, 1751), Of the Media (lyrics by Humbert Wolfe), Of Vanity (anonymous) and Of Celebration (lyrics by Dorothy Parker). (20’15”) Grade V.
Sound Samples: Of Politicians, Excerpt 1.mp3;Of Attorneys, Excerpt 2 .mp3; Of Businessmen, Excerpt 3.mp3;
Of the Media, Excerpt 4.mp3; Of Critics and Music, Excerpt 5.mp3;
Of Virtue, Excerpt 6.mp3; Of Vanity, Excerpt 7.mp3; Of Celebration, Excerpt 8.mp3

THE DISTANCES THEY KEEP (2001) for two high voices (sopranos or tenors), flute and piano by Roger Vogel is a beautiful work about man’s relationship to nature, and wild birds specifically. It is based upon an enchanting poem of the same name by Howard Nemerov. Recorded on the OASIS CD Love Letters, available from Brixton Publications CD-109. The vocal ranges required are d below the staff to A above the staff, and Db below the staff to A above ’30”) Grade V.
Sound Sample: Excerpt.mp3
EINE KLEINE SNAILMUSIK for high voice (soprano or tenor), trumpet, cello & piano by Roger C. Vogel is a humorous setting of May Sarton’s poem of the same name. Theatrical gestures are used in this playful work.The composer writes, "The humor in this work will be greatly enhanced by setting a lighthearted mood before beginning the work and by appropriate gestures throughout." The vocal range is from d below the treble staff to Ab above the staff. (8’) Grade V.
Sound Sample: Excerpt.mp3
IN DARKNESS (1989) for high voice (soprano or tenor), alto sax & piano by Roger C. Vogel. In Sophocle’s tragedy Oidipous Tyrannos the protagonist was separated from his parents at birth. He unwittingly fulfilled a prophesy by killing his father in a quarrel and then marrying his mother when he became king of Thebes. In Darkness is a narrative of the events that took place after the incestuous marriage became known.The text for this musical work was translated and adapted by Timothy Gantz. Although the melodic and harmonic language of this composition is modern, it incorporates some of the flavor of the ancient Grecian melody by deriving important motivic material from the ancient Dorian scale as it was sung in the chromatic genus. Recorded on the OASIS CD Love Letters, available from Brixton Publications CD-109. (16’30”) Grade V. Sound Sample: Excerpt.mp3
LAND OF THE FARTHER SUNS (1992) for narrator, four flutes (flute/piccolo, flute, flute/alto flute, and flute/bass flute), and piano by David Alpher. The text is from the poetry of Stephen Crane. The work is constructed in the manner of a song cycle, only with narration rather than singing. The music is modern, yet accessible, and contains sections in a jazzy vein. Finalist in the 1996 Newly-Published Music Competition of the National Flute Association. Recorded by Flute Force with Garrison Keillor on the Innova CD “Eyewitness” (20’) Grade V.
Sound Samples: Excerpt 1 (the opening).mp3; Excerpt 2.mp3; Excerpt 3.mp3
LOVE LETTERS (2002) by Roger C. Vogel is an entertaining and memorable song cycle based on texts selected to represent the many different aspects of the universal emotion of love: from longing, exuberance, excitement, and playfulness to sorrow and despair. The individual songs may be performed individually. The work is published in 2 versions, each with a different instrumentation and number of songs..
Version for high voice (soprano or tenor), violin & piano:
1. Your Letter Moved Me 2:29
2. I Lie Awake 3:52
3. Dear Miss West Forty-seventh Street 1:49
4. My Dearest Nell (voice and piano) 7:45
5. The French Ladies 3:39
6. My Darling Dear, Delightful Ringo 2:57
7. Have You Heard That I Love You (voice and violin) 3:07
8. Alas! I have Suffered Your Scorn! 11:36
9. Everything Measurable Passes 1:45
10. Interlude (violin and piano) 2:59
11. Adieu, I Seal My Letter 4:36

Videos of the songs in the voice & piano version may be viewed on YouTube:
1.Your Letter Moved Me 2:29
2. I Lie Awake 3:52
3. Dear Miss West 47th-seventh Street 1:49
4.My Dearest Nell (voice and piano) 7:45
5. My Darling Dear, Delightful Ringo 2:57
6. Adieu, I Seal My Letter 4:36
Note: The version for high voice, violin & piano is recorded on the OASIS CD Love Letters, available from Brixton Publications CD-109.

MODERN TIMES (1995) for narrator, flute, and 4 percussion (words & music by Howard J. Buss) is a powerful and dramatic depiction of life in our time. Provocative, at times mystical, and occasionally humorous, this work addresses an eclectic range of subjects such as taxes, neglected children, team mascots, and the information glut. “The tenor of Buss’ social commentary is somewhere between the witty jeering of Mark Twain and the pithy insights of Sinclair Lewis. In his free verse one finds provocation without violence and intense anger without profanity.” - The Tampa Tribune. The music transports the poetry into the dramatic and colorful sound world of the flute and percussion ensemble. The result is a unique and fresh view of the culture(s) in which we live. “The writing is mature and fresh, yet is within reach of a solid college ensemble.” - George Frock, Percussive Notes Magazine “This work is well-paced, colorful and accessible to audiences not familiar with complex percussion literature.This is truly one of the finest works in our idiom.” Robert McCormick, Florida Percussive News. The 8 movements may be performed individually or in smaller groupings. (30’) Grade V. Recorded on the Capstone Records CD HOWARD J. BUSS:MODERN TIMES available from Brixton.
Sound samples:
I. Info Glut (3:34) Sound Sample.mp3   II. Night Tide (2:49) Sound Sample.mp3
III. The Hunt (4:14) Sound Sample .mp3  IV. Five Question Interlude (3:01) Sound Sample.mp3
V. The Asphalt Blanket (3:11) Sound Sample.mp3  VI. To a Neglected Child (5:25) Sound Sample.mp3
VII. Giggles!?! (1:57) Sound Sample.mp3
VIII. Modern Times (5:26) Sound Sample#1.mp3, Sound Sample#2.mp3
Percussion: Percussion 1: Xylophone, lion roar, tam-tam, vibraslap, 2 suspended cymbals, Chinese bell tree, and bongos; Percussion 2: Marimba, snare drum, bass drum, 2 anvils (metal pipes may be substituted), glass jug or jars (to be broken for the sonic effect), conga drum, wind chimes, and triangle; Percussion 3: Vibes, roto toms, tambourine, tam-tam, police whistle, shaker, duck call; Percussion 4: Orchestra bells, timpani (4), agogo bells, 2 suspended cymbals, hi-hat, wind chimes, wood block, frog croak (may be imitated vocally), boing box effect (a flexitone may be substituted), triangle and guiro.

THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER (1989) for narrator, flute, viola & piano by David Alpher. Based on Lewis Carroll’s well-known poem from Through the Looking Glass (1871) this work transforms the familiar words from their Victorian and child-like context to a very different sound world primarily influenced by jazz. Finalist in the 1996 Newly-Published Music Competition of the National Flute Association. (15’) Grade V.
Sound Samples: Excerpt 1.mp3; Excerpt 2.mp3; Excerpt 3.mp3
WHERE NOW RUSTS THE IRON? (1994) by Howard J. Buss is a dramatic tribute to the composer’s grandfather who, like many ironworkers in his day, worked under brutal conditions with the dream of making life better for future generations. “A moving work touching our communal soul."
(8’) Grade IV-V.
- voice & piano version score sample: Excerpt.pdf
-voice, flute, cello, and 6 percussion version score sample: Excerpt.pdf Percussion distribution: Perc. 1: Timpani (4), orchestra bells, tubular bells (shared with perc. 2) & finger cymbals; Perc. 2: two anvils (metal pipes may be substituted), and tubular bells (shared with perc. 1: Perc. 3: Xylophone, and suspended cymbal; Perc. 4: Vibes & suspended cymbal; Perc. 5: marimba; Perc. 6: two suspended cymbals, tam-tam, wind chimes & bell tree. Percussion Set-up Chart
Text: “Where Now Rusts the Iron?”
Homes now stand where once the foundry coughed.
Countless tons of iron -
wheels and pans,
boilers and pipes,
latches and plates.
Countless train loads of hardware
shrieked from the pounding, grimy world within.

Iron converted from life itself,
energy given form.
Precious moments, days, and years
poured into molds and sealed
amid the ashes and dust,
always ashes and dust,
suspended in life-stealing air.

The graves of the workers overlook this place,
their fam’lies spread afar.
Season come and go, yet frozen in mem’ry
are the days of youth spent in toil, hope, and purpose.
Where now rusts the iron once cast by pounding hearts,
releasing the dreams, the souls,
invested in tough, cold metal?

The foundry still stands among the houses,
coughing on smoke-laden air.
Invisible as the iron once made,
its souls as mist remains. - Howard J. Buss
Copyright © 1994 by Brixton Publications

Vocal CDs

Love Letters

This wonderful CD features 3 compositions by Roger C. Vogel: Love Letters for high voice, violin and piano; The Distances They Keep for 2 high voices, flute, and piano; and In Darkness for high voice, alto sax, and piano. All are published by Brixton Publications.
Love Letters
1. Your Letter Moved Me 2:29
2. I Lie Awake 3:52
3. Dear Miss West Forty-seventh Street 1:49
4. My Dearest Nell (voice and piano) 7:45
5. The French Ladies 3:39
6. My Darling Dear, Delightful Ringo 2:57
7. Have You Heard That I Love You (voice and violin) 3:07
8. Alas! I have Suffered Your Scorn! 11:36
9. Everything Measurable Passes 1:45
10. Interlude (violin and piano) 2:59
11. Adieu, I Seal My Letter 4:36
Ellen Ritchey, soprano; Gregory Broughton, tenor; Levon Ambartsumian, violin; and Anatoly Sheludyakov, piano.
The Distances They Keep 13:13
Ellen Ritchey, Stephanie Pierce, sopranos, Lisa Bartholow, flute; and Andre Lash, piano.
In Darkness 17:30
Ellen Ritchey, soprano; Kenneth Fischer, alto sax; Anatoly Sheludyakov, piano.
Total playing time 77:20. Brixton CD-109 $16.95

Capstone Records CD Howard J. Buss: Modern Times
Music for flute, percussion, and narrator
“Outstanding, brilliant...These works demonstrate that Buss is one of our more outstanding composers for percussion. The performances are of the highest quality.” - George Frock, Percussive Notes Magazine, October 2004. In its April 2005 issue, The Gramophone, a leading audiophile magazine based in England, selected the CD Howard J. Buss: Modern Times to be included among “The best new recordings from North America.”
“Composer Howard J. Buss has won a number of awards, and this varied survey offers a worthy overview of his music.” - The Gramophone, April 2005. And specifically about Scenes from the Holy Land:
“The opening section, ‘Masada’ presents angular solos against percussion accents, with ascending legato passages for the flute. The music turns more florid and Middle-Eastern in style before a peaceful coda. ‘Storm on Mount Sinai’ offers sharply rhythmic music accented with tambourine and a more febrile bazaar-like flute writing. ‘The Flock by the Sea of Galilee’ contains an oddly memorable five-note percussion motif under a lovely bucolic flute theme. ‘The Road to Jerusalem’ makes a haunting finale with elaborate passages against pulsating percussion. Scenes from the Holy Land is an effective and colorful work with deftly varied music and tackled by the musicians with skill and understated virtuosity Buss’ intimate style requires. It makes its effects with point and economy and would be a boon to flute and percussion duos searching for program material.” - The Gramophone, April 2005
Overture for Percussion for 4 percussion (6:00) Howard J. Buss
Scenes from the Holy Land for flute and percussion (15:30) Howard J. Buss
I. Masada (3:50)
II. Storm on Mount Sinai (3:06)
III. The Flock By the Sea of Galilee (2:24)
IV. Jordan Valley Enchantment (2:29)
V. The Road to Jerusalem (4:26)
Currents for four percussion (14:34) Howard J. Buss
Modern Times for narrator, flute and four percussion (29:30) Howard J. Buss
I. Info Glut (3:34) Sound Sample .mp3
II. Night Tide (2:49) Sound Sample .mp3
III. The Hunt (4:14) Sound Sample .mp3
IV. Five Question Interlude (3:01) Sound Sample .mp3
V. The Asphalt Blanket (3:11) Sound Sample .mp3
VI. To a Neglected Child (5:25) Sound Sample ,mp3
VII. Giggles!?! (1:57) Sound Sample.mp3
VIII. Modern Times (5:26) Sound Sample#1 .mp3, Sound Sample#2.mp3

Total Playing Time: (66:45)

All works published by Brixton Publications (ASCAP) - www.brixtonpublications.com/
Performers: Overture for Percussion: T. Hampton Dohrman, Emory Blake, Grant M. Beiner, Lee W. Hinkle and Robert McCormick, conductor. Scenes from the Holy Land: The McCormick Duo - Kim S. McCormick, flute; Robert McCormick, percussion. Performers for Currents: T. Hampton Dohrman, Emory Blake, Grant M. Beiner, Robert McCormick. Modern Times: Jerald Reynolds, narrator; Kim McCormick, flute; percussion: Greg Graves, Cara Ready, Brad Sharo, Ryan Thomas. Overture, Scenes and Currents recorded at the Springs Theatre, Tampa FL. Modern Times recorded at the Music Recital Hall at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Engineer John Stephan of the Springs Theatre (www.springstheatre.com). Cover art by Judy E. Buss

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