ending on a celebratory note!
Renforth Music composer Russell Wilkinson’s new piece, There Is No Rose, SSATB A cappella, was the 2018 winning entry in the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s annual choral competition. We will be publishing it shortly after its first performance. Well done, Russell!
Also, Stephanie Martin’s God So Loved the World, SATB with two treble instruments, has been chosen as an Editor’s Choice by JW Pepper and Son. It featured in a pod cast in early December and is very popular. It was published by Renforth Music in 2016 and can be heard on the web site under the composer’s name.
year's end
Our final Update for 2018 rounds out a very productive year for new music where over 30 new listings were made. Here are the latest! Sympathy, SATB a cappella, by Russell Wilkinson; Tears and Laurels, TTBB a cappella, to add to the previously printed SSAA version, by Harris Loewen; How Far is it to Bethlehem, SSA with piano, by John Butler (with a SATB version in the works), two pieces by Laura Sgroi - Prayer for the Hanukkah Lights and Alone, both SATB a cappella with solo, and finally, another piece by John Butler, O God Creator of All Things - be sure to read this one all the way through before buying!
three pairs!
We begin with two new listings from each of three composers. Edward Enman, originally from Steam Mill, Nova Scotia, and now living in Montreal, offers Rubies SSAA, words by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Time’s Small Space SATB and soprano solo, words by Walter de la Mare, which has a fairly challenging piano part. Time's Small Space was the winner of the 2015 Nova Scotia Choral Federation’s National Composition Competition.
Secondly, we have Adam Hill’s Love Is and Stars: Childhood, SSAA a cappella. Love Is comes in two versions, both with SATB and piano, but one version has an added flute part. Stars: Childhood has words by Maleea Acker and has a very useful piano reduction.
Edward and Adam are new to Renforth Music.
Our third composer is John Butler. We offer his Make We Joy, SATB a cappella, with some interesting rhythm and metre changes and his fairly straightforward Hodie Christus Natus Est, again for SATB a cappella. John’s work is eminently approachable and suits a decent church choir. His first two Renforth pieces In Flanders Fields, SATB a cappella, and Ubi Caritas, also SATB a cappella, were published in May, 2018 and are attracting considerable interest.
three singles
First, we have Stephen Gourley’s Hosanna, Blessed is He! for unison and piano which is a jazzy little number with swung eighths, ideal for a children’s choir or a low number adult group. Check out Stephen’s other pieces.
Next, an interesting piece from Stan Schertzer called Life is a Journey, with inspiring words by Rabbi Alvin Fine for SATB with piano. Not an easy piece but well worth the effort.
Finally, we offer the TBB with piano version of The Digby Scallop by David Holborn. Fun and folksy, it joins versions already published for SSA and SATB both with piano. Stay tuned!
recent news
Open Arms is a SATB with piano and violin piece by Gail Poulsen and Harris Loewen. The theme is the love of a mother for a child, or in a larger context, the love of any ‘giver’ to their son or daughter. The violin part has a touch of Celtic wistfulness. There is a full web site recording.
We offer two pieces by John Butler - a powerful SATB a cappella setting of In Flanders Fields and a lovely Ubi Caritas again for SATB a cappella. Both of these pieces come with good web site recordings.
Fun and folksy! The Digby Scallop by David Holborn comes in SSA with piano and SATB with piano. It’s a lively, humorous number.
In the same folk-like style we offer The Kennebecasis River for SSA with piano by Beverly Lewis. Beverly used to live on the banks of the Kennebecasis River and writes simple, pleasant music that shows her love for this beautiful part of the world.
it's our 10th anniversary!
Renforth Music was started 10 years ago in April, 2008. Goodness, how time flies. It’s been a great journey and we have immensely enjoyed receiving, selecting, editing, printing, and selling choral music by many well-recognized composers. We have worked independently and are meeting our goal of providing new choral music and supporting composers.
We offer a warm thank you to our many customers and hope they will continue to search our web site for a wide range of musical styles and voicings and interesting and eclectic repertoire. We look forward to the next 10 years with great anticipation. Join us on the journey!
final flurry for 2017
Well, Renforth Music was producing new pieces right up to the final days of 2017. Let us first mention Sacred Songs for Small Choirs by Stephanie Martin. This is a collection of 16 mainly short pieces, many of them rounds or what we are calling additive pieces (where one voice starts and keeps singing the same part while a new voice is added with each repeat.) The Sacred Songs will be welcomed by small church choirs that have to be creative with their available resources. This music will make your choir sound great! Most pieces are cappella. We also published a lovely new piece by Stephen Gourley for SA/piano called This Is the Day the Lord Has Made. Hints of modal harmonies in the accompaniment give this song an ‘English’ feel. Great for your junior choir or even for a small church choir. She Walks in Beauty Like the Night (SSATB a cappella) is a beautiful setting of Lord Byron’s poem by Russell Wilkinson whose three piece Incarnation we published last month. She Walks in Beauty is available with or without piano reduction. Finally, we offer a catchy, energetic SA arrangement with a lively piano part of Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho by Stephen Gourley. You and your junior choir (and perhaps the senior choir also) will enjoy this fine arrangement of an old favourite.
