Now Sing We Joyfully Unto God: Read MR's notes on this Advent anthem by the RCC choir.
Go to The Choral Man--> RCC Choir--> Christmas Classics. It is a tour de force in choral excellence, and it helps that the recording was well-balanced between choir and piano, with a good stereo spectrum. Listen to the perfection of the unisons in both the women and men. The middle section with its fast-paced lyrics is quite unusual and is performed with verve and percision. This anthem carol displays the stellar RCC Choir at its finest. Diane shines on the accompaniment. (RCC Choir, 1994)
Mary Mac: Michael Roy invited the the audience to sing along on this Scottish ditty, but the trouble is, the words are fast-paced and a tongue-twister to boot. MR gave a short tutorial before the fun began, which didn't promise much help. MR got this one from Scottish folk singer, Alex Beaton, during one of his So. Florida Scottish Fair appearances. Alison fiddles away, and MR sings the ballad and plays guitar. The audience was disbelieving. (The Immanuel Singers - Ancient & Celtic - The Concert, 2007)
Road To Freedom - Cotton Fields - Early Mornin; Rain: The first song was written in 1961 by prolific folk song writer, John Stewart, a member of the Kingston Trio. Peggy Hunt sings the solo. "Cotton Fields" was written by blues musician, Lead Belly, and was first recorded in 1940. "Early Mornin' Rain" was written by Canadian song writer & folk singer, Gordon Lightfoot, in 1964. MR sings the lead as he displays the delineating folk finger-picking styles on his vintage Martin-D35. (RCC Choir - 1999)
Chorus: Lift Up Your Heads: (from Messiah by G.F. Handel) here performed with only period instruments: recorders, viols, sackbut, portative organ, and harpsichord. The choir is excellent in their baroque interpretation (RCC Choir).
Jesus Paid It All: a fine anthem that calls for seamless unisons as well as lush harmonies. The choir has both skills in hand: listen especially for the final choral note, a pure unison in all voices; excellence in unisons is, choral arts-wise, rather under-appreciated (RCC choir).
I'll Fly Away - Dueling Banjos: The RCC vocal group: sopranos Katie Burdick and Becky Spence; altos, Jan and Patty Pluto; tenor John Flynt; and MR singing bass. "Dueling Banjos" comes posed as a complaint from 5-string player Jan Dupree about the modern chords that MR snuck into the bluegrass arrangement. This is from a Country/Bluegrass concert, 1994. String band is: Dale Chapel, string bass; Jan Dupree, banjo; Michael Roy, guitar, and Diane Maltby, piano.
I'll Fly Away - Dueling Banjos: The Immanuel vocal group sings. Claudia takes the first solo, followed by MR & Jan's duet, and then Beverley sings. MR desperately tries to apologize to Mark Richason (on the 5-string) for all the un-bluegrassy modern chords in the arrangement, but Mark is not to be easily mollified and a duel breaks out. 2006. String band: Karen Richason, string bass; Mark Richason, banjo; Michael Roy, guitar; and Diane Maltby, piano.
This is a special page of styles of music you would not ordinarily believe a "psalm-singin' churchified choir" could manage. MR says with a wink: "It starts with a crafty arranger!" And great singers!
Turn Your Radio On (Alfred E. Brumley, 1937, arr. MR): It used to be that rural folk who lived way up in the mountains had only their RCA console radios to keep in contact with the outside world. This old mountain radio gospel song speaks of that era. This is a vocal group culled from the Immanuel Singers: Beverley Murdock & Claudia Springer sing soprano; Jan is the alto singer & soloist; John Flynt & Chris Moore, the tenors; MR is singing the bass and playing guitar. The concert is from 2007.
Great Is the Lord: The full choral treatment is given this praise song by the RCC choir, including an unlikely instrumental solo (for a P&W song) supplied by MR. The piano part is especially interesting, as are the choral devices employed. The last verse is not for the faint of heart: be forewarned. MR wrote this arrangement esp. for the Rock of Ages Concert (1997). The audience was ambushed.
Whoopie Ty Yi Yo: A western song might seem an odd choice for an all-time playlist, but sometimes, everything goes right, chorally speaking, and the idiom itself does not matter. Everything went right on this enchanting and listenable western ditty by the Immanuel Singers (2005). The mix of instruments:
guitar, string bass, piano, and percussion (with a bit of banjo here and there) is nearly perfect, as is the recording and the stereo spectrum. The woman's and men's unisons are also pristine in sound, accuracy and phrasing. As extra choral fun listen for the unusual device of a constant shifting in key centers without invoking actual modulations. And in the last chorus the melody is sung simultaneously in two different keys between the men and women (a hint of duotonality). This is MR's favorite western song and one of his favorites among all his arrangements. Lou Rose provides the baritone solo about that misguided cowboy who "tries the trail for pleasure." Listen to a church choir venture into this rare style of Americana music and come out with a choral gem. It is really quite remarkable, and I suggest that not many resident church choirs anywhere could pull it off.
Calvary Covers it All - MR came to know this old gospel song on tour with the Spurrlows during the early 60's. An alto solist (and also the pianist), Marilyn Dunn, who has gone on before us, sang it in the special concert called "Splendor of Sacred Song," usually held in large auditoriums. MR would stand
backstage and listen to this haunting tune, and he memorized it for later days after tour. This is his arrangement, and for guitarists, it's sounding in D, but MR is playing in C, capoed up two frets. You can read the marvelous story of the gospel song at this URL: https://wordwisehymns.com/2013/06/19/calvary-covers-it-all/ It concerns the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, and the co-director in those bygone days, Ethyl Taylor, who wrote the song in the mission chapel, just following the conversion with a well-known singer-dancer of the '30's (Walter "Happy Mac" MacDonald). The phrase "Calvary covers it all," was said to him in response to his lament that God couldn't save someone as sinful as he was. This performance was at the Palm Sunday Concert, 1995, at the Redlands Community Church. Diane is playing organ.
Once In Royal David's City: (live perf.) This poem was written by Cecil Frances Alexander in 1848. She also wrote "All Things Bright and Beautiful." MR has arranged this hymntune, written by Henry John Gauntlet in 1849, for two flutes and piano; the arrangement was written to also work as
a flute solo. MR played the principal flute part in performance, and later in the studio overdubbed the bass flute to achieve the duet. Diane M. is at the piano.
Lead Me to Calvary: MR says: The reason this recording is in my All-Time Play List is that there is not a dedicated category for this song, as to the church and the vocal group involved. It was performed in 1988 at what Jan and I affectionately call "the old church," West Kendall Presbyterian
(PCA), which existed promptly for three years, 1987 to the last day of 1989. I was music director there during that time (and starting for several months before the church existed). The vocal group: Wendy Spaten (RIP) and Susan Nungesser are singing the lead. Jan is the alto; Tenors are Ron Hack and Brian Nungesser (RIP), and I am singing bass. At the organ is Charlene Hack, who wasn't, at this time, a Hack: Ron and Charlene married a few years afterwards. They met at this church,..and in this vocal group. Another historic tidbit: three weeks after the West Kendall church ceased to exist, this vocal group, now churchless and houseless (people without a steeple), traveled to the Redlands Community Church and sang this very song in a Sunday morning service. It was well-received, and led to an interview between me and their session: I was subsequently hired as music director at Redlands Community; I was there for 11 years with one of the finest all-volunteer, resident choirs in this nation.
Lord of the Dance - This song, based on the early American Shaker tune, "Simple Gifts," was written in 1962 by Sydney B. Carter, an Englishman who served as an ambulance driver in a Quaker unit during WWII. Here, it is sung by Michael Roy and Jan, with MR on guitar and Diane
Maltby on piano/organ. MR also plays the soprano recorder in the instrumental interlude. This was not in-concert, but recorded in remote studio conditions at Redlands Community Church in the '90's. It was used in the duet concerts by Michael and Jan, and always received well. Michael displays the complex folk-style guitar finger picking based on the "Travis pick."
Stand By Me - (arr. MR) This performance is from the first "Great Easter Concert"(1970), by the original Michael Roy Singers: Glenda Currey, sop. Jan, alto; Bob Cupp (RIP), tenor, and MR, bass-baritone and guitarist. This huge audience is in the (now defunct) First Unit. Methodist Church of South Miami. The organ you hear in the background is a huge electronic Allen organ. Even slightly over-ambient, it is listenable.
Lamb of God: This is John's song, his arrangement, his stellar tenor voice and his piano accompaniment: on this beautiful duet, John Flynt teams up with Becky Spence led the sopranos at the top of the choir for all 11 years at RCC; to have both of these talented soloists able to sing at this
high level of excellence was a blessing and a matchless resource; it virtually allowed the choir to accept any possible challenge. Becky had a three octave range and excelled in the early music idioms: oratorio,16th c. madrigals and medieval music. Here, however, she shows her vast idiomatic range by singing this contemporary Christian duet with John, who, himself, could sing every idiom from oratorio to cont. Christian. This is from the Palm Sunday Concert, 1995.
Come, People of the Risen King (Keith and Kristyn Getty) Arr. MR: Here is the first video I have downloaded to this website. I wrote an arrangement to this song for Jan's alto voice, guitar, piano, and penny whistle, all of which you hear performed live. However, we were playing to a prerecorded track that contained bass, percussion and strings. It all meshes together in this Gaelic flavored performance. Diane Maltby, as always, is at the keyboard. Performed at Central Presbyterian, Miami, on Mar. 15, 2020 (this was the last Sunday at church, and our last outing before the quarantine began!).
Come, People of the Risen King - digital performance by Sibelius: piano, bass, drums, strings, ah's (simulates solo voice). Praise song arranged with Gaelic influences.
This audio is of the Sibelius workprint, not the live performance video. The music is here, however.
I Will Arise - (Arr. MR) An authentic early American hymn tune, and pure pentatonic: the melody never touches the fourth ("fa, a long.long way to run") or seventh ("ti, a drink with jam and bread"), but uses only the other five degrees of the scale. Jan sings this haunting tune that was first seen in
the famous "Southern Harmony" publication that has so many early American hymns in initial published form. The arrangement features a digital orchestration of strings, elec. bass, and piano. The guitar and recorder were played by MR. Listen for complex three-part canons on the tune, first, separated by a measure, and then by only two beats.