For more current info on what's happening (or not happening!) on this site, try Musings @ DeFord Music, a web log.
December 13, 2005: Happy Christmas to all and to all... a new Christmas Card Carol for the first time in several years. I suppose this means I really ought to send some Christmas cards! The new carol is titled "The Angels Came to Sing." It's a very simple lullaby, and someday I may even have grandchildren to sing it to. ;) A recording with vocals by Becki Madsen (DialupHigh-speed) is available, as well as a piano track.
Also new this time are several recordings of previously posted material:
--Oh Holy Night--two versions, one with vocals by Heather Prusse (classical) and one with vocals by Marc Johnson (pop), as well as accompaniment tracks in two different keys for you computer-aided soloists.
--A whole list of Christmas songs with vocals by Heather Prusse. Too many to link on this page in fact. (I get bored quickly fussing with html.) You can listen to them all from her MP3 Playlist, check the Recordings page, or just put her name in a site search to bring up the pages with the new recordings.
There have been a few corrections made to previously posted scores, but the only one worth mentioning here is in the SATB arrangement of "Oh Holy Night" (measure 22), in which I had omitted the "and" in the phrase "in sin and error pining." Several of you have written to ask if this was a typo or just "artistic(?) license." Defintely a typo.
Have a great Christmas!
October 21, 2005: Updates to this site have been few and far between lately. I haven't kicked the composing habit, but I've acquired another habit that's been limiting my time: teaching early-morning Seminary. So I hope you'll forgive me for the infrequent new material.
There are a few new additions to the site this time:
--A new song for Christmas titled "And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful" for solo or SATB choir. A demo recording with vocals by Heather Prusse is available (Hi-speed, Dialup), as well as an accompaniment track for the higher-voiced version (see the song page for links).
--An arrangement of "Joy to the World" for piano and organ, to be used as a congregational accompaniment. This isn't a particularly imaginative arrangement, as I had to stick with the harmonies written in the hymnbook, but it's boisterous, and fun for congregations to sing with.
--Two new recordings: "What Child is This?" (Hi-speed, Dialup) performed by The Kidmans, a trio of very talented sisters; and "An Instrument in Thy Hand," (Hi-speed, Dialup) performed by Elder Aaron Densley, who, appropriately enough, is currently serving as a missionary in my area.
--A .pdf of "I Need Thee Every Hour" in both English and Spanish, formatted as a halfsheet-sized booklet, compliments of contributor David Pihl.
I have quite a few other things still in the works. If they'd just add that extra day to the week (and make sure it isn't a school day) I might actually get them done.
July 5, 2005: New to the site this time is a song called "This is How I Know," for solo or equal-voice duet. This song is part of the "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee" cantata, but needed some lyric changes to make it useful outside the program. A demo recording of the low-voice solo with vocals by Leilani Toloa Johnson is available, as well as an accompaniment track.
This is a very simple song. However, it is written in a 5/4 time signature which can be a little intimidating. If you're put off by the meter, you may wish to listen to the recording a couple of times to get a feel for it before you look at the actual score.
May 10, 2005: Sometimes you get the chance to do something just for the pure pleasure of doing it... not an assignment, or a necessity in any way, just good old-fashioned fun. The new song this time falls in that category. It's a very simple arrangement of "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," for SATB choir or medium-voice solo, with obbligato for two C instruments. I've also included a setting of Eliza R. Snow's "O My Father" to the same melody, since it fit so very well. MP3 demos and accompaniment tracks are available for both versions. Happy Spring!
January 18, 2005: Happy New Year! I hope you've all recovered from the holidays. New to the site this time is a song titled "The Master's Voice," arranged for SATB (div.) choir. It's a gentle anthem about the Savior, suitable for general worship. An MP3 piano accompaniment track is available.
Also, the new Easter cantata, titled "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee" is now available... er, somewhat available. Before some of you get your hopes up, let me tell you that it isn't entirely finished yet. However, all the choral selections are ready, and I decided to post it now since I know a few of you want to use it for this coming Easter and your choirs need to get started. The solo material is also finished, as are some of the organ scores. The rest (organ scores, violin obbligatos, and narrations and interludes) will be done over the next two or three weeks, and I'll post each of them as they're ready.
November 9, 2004: New to the site this time is an arrangement of one of my favorite hymns--"Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee"--which is also going to be the title selection for the new Easter cantata I'm (frantically!) working on. I've arranged it for SATB choir, piano, organ and flute. There's also a solo arrangement, with a demo recording with vocals by Heather Prusse--a newcomer to the site. (The first time I heard Heather sing, she was standing behind me in the choir one Sunday morning. Lucky me!)
Also new... The 2004 Edition of the Site CD is now available. Believe it or not, it includes everything to date--even the "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee" arrangement. (Don't ask me how that happened. Sometimes things just work.)
A note for Mac users: Mac users have been experiencing difficulty with the site layout when using Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse the pages. I'm slowly modifying the code so the pages will be readable in that browser, but it requires modifying the html code for every page on the site so it will take awhile. In the meantime, the Safari browser will display the pages properly. Alternately, all the sheet music may be downloaded from the Alphabetical list, and all the MP3s are available on the Recordings page.
September 17, 2004: Hello strangers! It's been awhile... I hope you all had a great summer--or winter, depending on where you live. :)
New on the recording front: By far the most-requested MP3 file over the past few years has been "Because He Lives." I'm pleased to be able to finally offer you not one but three different recordings. They're all done in different styles, so have fun listening.
Another new recording this time is "Miracles," also with vocals by Becki Madsen (she's been a busy girl!). It's a key lower than the original, and I've included the sheet music for the lower key.
As you'll notice, the good ol' website is getting a face lift. Same content, same layout, just a new look. Those of you who are Flash aficionados and gadget lovers will be disappointed... until the whole world has high-speed, stuff like that just takes too long to load.
One new feature of the makeover is the availability of MP3 playlists. There are four lists available now, and more are coming. This is a bit of an experiment to see if they're useful to you, so cast your vote in the Playlist Poll while you're here.
(Poll ended)
June 27, 2004: Well, I'm at it again. I've begun work on a new Easter program (seems like I'm always writing programs...) which I hope to complete by January--we'll see! I'll be posting those selections that can stand alone outside the context of the program as I finish them. The first offering from the new program is a medium-voice vocal solo titled "For Me Alone." A demo recording with vocals by Lindsay Bennett is available, as well as a minus (accompaniment only) track. I hope you enjoy it.
A bit off topic... in the last several weeks, I've been deleting viruses from my e-mail inbox at the rate of about a hundred a week. To combat this, my address will no longer accept e-mail with attachments. If there's an attachment you need to send me, drop me a note and I'll let you know what address to send it to.
May 20, 2004: New to the site this time is an arrangement of "Beautiful Savior" for SSATB choir and also for SSA women's chorus. The arrangement is accompanied by piano, organ and flute. The organ and flute may be omitted, but I wouldn't recommend it--the arrangement is much nicer using all three instruments. A recording of the SSA version is available. It's just my daughter and I pretending to be a women's chorus (ain't technology grand?) but it will show you how the finished product sounds.
Also new this time is a vocal solo recording of "Come Unto Christ" by Brady Lorenc. For those of you who have enjoyed Brady's beautiful voice, he now has a CD of his own available. Click here for details.
March 8, 2004: One of the problems with self-publishing is that my timing is often a little skewed for choral music. There's nobody forcing me to think about Christmas in June or Easter in November, which makes some of my chorals a little late. However, if you're looking for a last-minute selection for Easter, here's an SATB arrangement of "I Have Not Seen, Yet I Believe" which should be fairly easy for choirs to learn. Fortunately, the message of this song is appropriate just about any time you choose to use it, so I guess I don't feel too guilty after all.
In light of the new spate of viruses making the internet rounds, please remember that legitimate music site updates from defordmusic.com/Yahoo!Groups will never have attachments. If you receive an update with an attachment that purports to come from me... it doesn't. Please delete it unopened.
Happy Easter!
January 18, 2004: Happy 2004! Over the last few months many of you who are Young Women's leaders have written to ask if I would be writing a song based on the 2004 LDS YW theme--"search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things will work together for your good..." Well, it was touch and go. "Diligently" is one of those words that just doesn't seem to sing on its own. But it finally came together, and my attempt at a song to fit that theme is now available: "Search Diligently, Pray Always," voiced for solo, unison or two-part treble voices. There's an optional obbligato for C instrument available, as well as a version with a simplified piano accompaniment.
In the computer age, my motto has come to be "You win a few, you lose a few." Well, I've lost a few... e-mails that is. I upgraded my computer system (whatever happened to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy?) and in so doing, I managed to wipe out my e-mail folder. If you have e-mailed me and are waiting on a response, would you please resend your original message? Thanks!
December 1, 2003: A "Good News/Bad News" update...
Bad News: MP3.com, the site that has hosted all the MP3s on this site, is going out of business. As of tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 2) they will no longer be around to serve up audio tracks.
Good News: I've found another site, Soundclick.com, to host the files, and the recordings will continue to be available as before. However...
Bad News: ...every MP3 file must be re-uploaded, and every audio link on the site must be changed to point to the new MP3 host. That's a lo-o-o-ng, tedious job, and I'm not done yet.
Good News: One improvement you'll see as a result of the change is that the MP3 links will simply pop open your media player and play the files. No more extra mouse clicks on extra pages to start the track rolling.
More Bad News: Because many of the audio CDs on this site were sold through MP3.com, they're now lost and gone forever. However...
More Good News: Many of them are still available here and I'll be replacing the old MP3.com CDs with new CDs. The first of the replacements is now available, a new CD titled "How Great is the Miracle," containing...
"How Great is the Miracle" (Marc and Leilani Johnson)
"Gethsemane," "Come, Lord Jesus," "I Need Thee Every Hour," and "Oh Strengthen Me" (Brady Lorenc)
"Created in His Image" and "My Grateful Spirit Sings" (Lindsay Bennett)
"It Was for Me" (Katie Brandt)
"My Sister's Hands" (Becki Madsen)
"Built Upon the Rock" (Sally DeFord)
...as well as minus tracks for most selections.
The Long and Short of It: Until the pages are all updated, you may run into some broken links. I apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience as I frantically try to get all my ducks back in a row!
November 6, 2003:
A few odds and ends... In October I released "My Grateful Spirit Sings" without a vocal demo. I'm now pleased to be able to offer you a rendition by Lindsay Bennett, a talented young newcomer to the site. You can visit her on the web, and drop her a note while you're there--these great young people should be encouraged. A minus track is also available.
New this time is yet another arrangement of "Silent Night." This arrangement is a simple vocal solo in four different keys--high, medium, low and very low (or very high--it will work for either). It's very much like the interludes in the "Silent Night" cantata, since it's basically a compilation of those interludes with a little of the congregational version mixed in. There's a demo with vocals by Cris Fewox available, as well as a minus track (in the very-low/high key) and a piano track (in the medium key). This is probably the last "Silent Night" arrangement for awhile... my fixation with it this year may actually be coming to an end. :)
Last but not least, there's a new Christmas audio CD available, titled "Peace, Peace, Peace." I'm offering this one through Mixonic instead of MP3.com because the Mixonic folks let me use the entire 80-minute disk, and that way I can put the vocals and the minus tracks on the same CD. It contains the following tracks:
Peace, Peace, Peace (Vocals: Reid Chapman)
Born is the Light of the World (Vocals: Becki Madsen)
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth (Vocals: Cris Fewox)
When Hope Was Born (Vocals: Becki Madsen)
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Vocals: Micah Lorenc)
Love Knows No Borders (Vocals: Becki Madsen)
The Most Beautiful Story That's Ever Been Told (Vocals: Reid Chapman)
What Child is This? (Vocals: Roberta Stark)
Would I Know My Savior? (Vocals: Becki Madsen)
Silent Night (Vocals: Cris Fewox)
...and minus tracks for all of the above except "What Child is This?"
Click here for ordering information. ("The Riches of My Soul" is available on the same site, as well as the Site CD. Others will follow.)
October 6, 2003:
During the drought that has plagued the Rocky Mountain area of the U.S. for the past couple of years, I've learned to be grateful for rain. I suppose it's human nature to take things for granted until they're gone. The drought taught me to regard a steady, gentle, much-needed rain not as a nuisance but as a gift from a loving Heavenly Father. (Of course, as some of you have good cause to know, rain can be overdone... balance is also a blessing!) The new song this time is a song of gratitude and thanksgiving called "My Grateful Spirit Sings," and among the wonders of creation and the blessings of God to His children, of course I had to include the rain. The score is available for SATB choir, along with high-, medium- and low-voice solos. A piano accompaniment track is available, but no vocals yet. I tried to keep this one simple and easy to learn. I hope you enjoy it.
September 10, 2003:
Hello all! It's been awhile. I hope you had a great summer. Ours was too short. But then, our kids went back to school on August 13. **sigh**
The new offering this time is a 20-25 minute Christmas Cantata called "Silent Night." It's built around...you guessed it, the Christmas carol of the same name. Ease of performance was the primary consideration in writing this one, so the ranges are moderate and there's nothing too tricky. The one a cappella section has an optional accompaniment written in, and the only part split is an SSA passage that may be omitted if necessary. Excerpts from Matthew 1 and Luke 2 (KJV), coupled with solo verses of "Silent Night" serve as narration. The songs in the program are also available as separate scores:
Peace, Peace, Peace: Available for SATB choir or medium-voice solo. A recording in MP3 format with vocals by Reid Chapman is available, as well as a minus track.
Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth: Available for SATB choir, medium- and low-voice solo. A recording with vocals by Cris Fewox is available, as well as a minus track.
Silent Night: For piano, organ, choir, congregation and flute or other C-instrument. The choir, congregation and organ use the hymnal version (a key change is provided in the score) and the piano and flute provide the extras.
Also available (and even a little ahead of schedule for a change!) is the 2003 Edition of this site. It contains everything up to September 1, including the "Built Upon the Rock" program, but not including the new Christmas Cantata. (It's the same problem every year... when do I cut it off? :) After running into some substantial problems with Homemade Music, I've opted to use Mixonic for this edition. They seem to do a good job and ship their orders quickly. Please let me know if you have any trouble with them.
June 3, 2003:
Two new songs have been added to the site:
--An original composition titled "Cast Your Burden on the Lord," voiced as a standard SATB hymn, an SATB choral with organ, and an identical choral with a piano adaptation of the accompaniment. The only recording available for this one is a sing-along track of the piano score. This is a very simple song, and should be relatively easy to learn.
--An SSA version of the well-known children's song "He Sent His Son" by Mabel Jones Gabbot and Michael F. Moody, arranged by yours truly. This arrangement was performed beautifully by a young women's chorus as part of the March 2003 YW General Broadcast. Perhaps other YW organizations will enjoy having it as well.
April 2, 2003:
It's spring, the sun is shining (in spite of our blizzard a week or so ago) and the daffodils are blooming... which means I'm behind as usual. The "Built Upon the Rock" program which I had intended to have ready in the fall is finally done and posted. There's a CD of accompaniment tracks available for your convenience. These can also be downloaded--see the program page for links. The program is so simple that I'm embarrassed to admit how long it has taken to beat it into shape... but better late than never I guess. There's also an individual page for the theme song, also called "Built Upon the Rock" and a demo recording with vocals.
A recording of "My Sister's Hands," with vocals by Becki Madsen, as well as an accompaniment-only (minus) track have also been added. I hope you enjoy them!
For archived "What's New?" entries before February 2003, click here.
