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        Genre: Concert Repertoire

        Title Description Composer Voicing

        Let Evening Come (Treble)

        #MM3014

        NOW AVAILABLE

        This piece is based on the text of award-winning American poet Jane Kenyon’s poem by the same name, which contemplates the end of the day, and alludes to the parallels in life and death. With a quiet, reflective beginning, listeners are transported to the peaceful countryside in the late afternoon. Voice parts in turn bathe the listener in rays of light as they “shine through the chinks in the barn”. The piece culminates in an affirming declaration – “let evening come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless.”

        Let Evening Come SATB

        #MM3013

        NOW AVAILABLE

        This piece is based on the text of award-winning American poet Jane Kenyon’s poem by the same name, which contemplates the end of the day, and alludes to the parallels in life and death. With a quiet, reflective beginning, listeners are transported to the peaceful countryside in the late afternoon. Voice parts in turn bathe the listener in rays of light as they “shine through the chinks in the barn”. The piece culminates in an affirming declaration – “let evening come, as it will, and don’t be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless.”

        Something Childish, but Very Natural

        #MM3011

        NOW AVAILABLE

        Written after Perth’s first lockdown due to Covid-19, this simple yet lush setting of Coleridge’s poetry expresses a first glimpse of hope and return to normality. Both an expressive longing and a gentle dreaming to be with someone far away resonates through the harmony and melodic gestures.

        In Flanders Fields

        #MM2108

        Graeme Morton’s piece “In Flanders Fields” is a poignant setting of the poem by John McCrae. The touching piece swells emotionally, with moments of word painting and an overall sense of serenity. A highly recommended addition for memorial events.

        Major John McCrae was a medical officer with the First Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery. In April 1915, he was stationed in the trenches near Ypres, Belgium – an area traditionally called ‘Flanders’. “The day before he wrote his famous poem, one of McCrae’s closest friends was killed in the fighting and buried in a makeshift grave with a simple wooden cross. Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom between the crosses marking the many graves.” A doctor before the war, and unable to help his friend or any of the others who had died, John McCrae gave them a voice through his poem. (Government of Canada).

        John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” has since been a reminder of the horrors of war, and is a significant artefact of WWI and Remembrance ceremonies globally.

         

        Arise my love, my fair one

        #MM0831

        NOW AVAILABLE

        “Arise my love, my fair one” was written in 2012 for the service at St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane commemorating the 20th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Australia. Flowing lines rise gradually towards the “fragrance” to which the text refers later, the blooming and blossoming of spring and the heralding of a new dawn, for the ministry of women and men. The middle section exhorts in dramatic homophony which gradually calms to release “fragrance”, and then repeats the ideas of the opening. The piece dies away, as if lover and beloved were disappearing into a mist (or a cloud of incense!).

        Sea Fever

        #MM2114

        Winter Stars (SSAA)

        #MM0819

        This piece for choir, piano and flute paints a cloudless winter night – the piano and flute adding a crisp clarity to the atmosphere. A lovely piece for secondary choir, and a great addition to your concert programme.

        Winter Stars (SATB)

        #MM0818

        This piece for choir, piano and flute paints a cloudless winter night – the piano and flute adding a crisp clarity to the atmosphere. A lovely piece for secondary choir, and a great addition to your concert programme.

        We Are The Future (SSAA)

        #MM0817

        This piece is currently in preparation, and will be available shortly. For enquiries, please contact admin@mortonmusic.com

        A wonderfully uplifting piece with solos throughout, We Are The Future is highly recommended for youth choir. With text adapted from year 8, Brighton Secondary Student, Paris Maddern’s poem “The Future”, this joyous piece for SATB or SSA choir carries a strong, youthful voice and sings of their hope for the future, and their role in it.

        “And I cry at the glowing blaze of disaster in this world

        Yearning to reshape it, let goodness be unfurled

        Perhaps I am not good enough

        Perhaps my strength exceeds me,

        The world will see me.”

        We Are The Future (SATB)

        #MM0816

        A wonderfully uplifting piece with solos throughout, We Are The Future is highly recommended for youth choir. With text adapted from year 8, Brighton Secondary Student, Paris Maddern’s poem “The Future”, this joyous piece for SATB or SSA choir carries a strong, youthful voice and sings of their hope for the future, and their role in it.

        “And I cry at the glowing blaze of disaster in this world

        Yearning to reshape it, let goodness be unfurled

        Perhaps I am not good enough

        Perhaps my strength exceeds me,

        The world will see me.”

         

         

        Waltzing Matilda (SATB)

        #MM2116

        A fresh take on an Aussie classic.

        The Road Not Taken (SSAA)

        #MM0815

        This poignant piece, written for the Seymour College Chamber Singers, is based on the poem by the same name by Robert Frost. The text tells of a traveller who comes across a fork in the road and decides to take the road less travelled – a moving reflection on life’s decisions. Composer Carl Crossin’s decision to include violin adds a further element of emotion to an already very stirring piece. Highly recommended.

        The Road Not Taken (SATB)

        #MM0814

        This poignant piece, written for the Seymour College Chamber Singers, is based on the poem by the same name by Robert Frost. The text tells of a traveller who comes across a fork in the road and decides to take the road less travelled – a moving reflection on life’s decisions. Composer Carl Crossin’s decision to include violin adds a further element of emotion to an already very stirring piece. Highly recommended, particularly for youth choirs.

        Rise (SATB)

        #MM0808

        In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Crossin writes that the brief given to him in the commission of this work was that the song be “uplifting and life affirming” – and that it certainly is. A wonderful piece for secondary choir

         

        Rise (SSAA)

        #MM0807

        In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carl Crossin writes that the brief given to him in the commission of this work was that the song be “uplifting and life affirming” – and that it certainly is. A wonderful piece for secondary choir.

        Part Needle, Part Thread

        #MM0813

        Part Needle, Part Thread was composed in 2020 for the Adelaide Chamber Singers, though due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was unable to be performed at the World Choir Games in Belgium as intended. It was later video recorded by the Adelaide Chamber Choir for online release.

        The text by Ann Nadge explores the delicate connection between love and time, describing that connection as an entity, a process and a protection against emotional darkness. Carl Crossin, effortlessly weaves the voices between each other, painting the metaphor of needle and thread before time seemingly stops in the dramatic B section. Listen below.

        On Giving

        #MM0826

        Mind

        #MM0805

        Mater Dolorosa

        #MM0812

        NOW AVAILABLE

        The original SATB version of Mater Dolorosa was composed for conductor Jillian McGregor and the Corinthian Singers of Adelaide for a Good Friday concert in the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Radford Auditorium in April, 2011. The work was subsequently revised and expanded (SSATBarB) in 2013, and was premiered by Adelaide Chamber Singers – conducted by Carl Crossin – at the Musica Sacra a Roma in Rome, Italy in July 2013. Mater Dolorosa is a setting of the first four stanzas of the 13th century Marian hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa, a much longer poem which expresses Mary’s sorrow as she stood at the foot of the cross witnessing her son’s death by crucifixion.

        Everyone Sang (SSAA)

        #MM0810

        A delightful, joyous piece imbued with a sense of wonder throughout, Carl Crossin’s Everyone Sang is a fantastic addition to any concert programme. Incorporating birdsong with piano, cello and voices, this is a wonderfully atmospheric piece, and sure to be a great success. Highly recommended!

        Everyone Sang (SATB)

        #MM0809

        A delightful, joyous piece imbued with a sense of wonder throughout, Carl Crossin’s Everyone Sang is a fantastic addition to any concert programme. Incorporating birdsong with piano, cello and voices, this is a wonderfully atmospheric piece, and sure to be a great success. Highly recommended!

        Evening Prayer

        #MM2107

        The text of this piece is taken from the Evening Prayer of St Augustine, which asks for the protection and love of God whilst we are asleep, before calling for a blessing upon those who are suffering. While an a cappella performance is preferred, the minimal accompaniment gives harmonic support and can be used if desired in rehearsal or performance.

        As Wave Drives Wave

        #MM0804

        AS WAVE DRIVES WAVE for choir, opus 115 (2021) by Andrew Schultz is an unaccompanied setting of memorable lines from Ovid’s Metamorphoses which he in turn drew from Pythagoras’ The Eternal Flux. The motion of the waves and their restless renewal is used as a metaphor for the certainty of perpetual change in the universe. The imagery in Ovid’s text is very beautiful and possibly even a little melancholy – or maybe granitic and philosophical and hence, sadness is irrelevant. In this choral setting the text has been adapted and personalised by the composer. This six minute piece is based on slow-moving harmony with sequences of overlapping and interlocking chords – as if unresolved suspensions were waves pushing waves. The work is an eight-part SATB choir setting but a lot of the work is really in four parts with pairs of voices starting in unison and then splitting apart. As wave drives wave was commissioned by the Brisbane Chamber Choir and their Artistic Director, Graeme Morton, and was composed in late 2021. They perform the work here at Christ Church North Adelaide, South Australia as a part of the Adelaide Chamber Singers Festival in October 2023. The video was recorded by Australian Digital Concert Hall. TEXT Since I have embarked on endless sea and set my sails, I now do know this: As wave drives wave, And each, pursued, Pursues the next. For what was before is left behind; And what was not, now is; And each moment is new. So time, flies on and follows, Always, forever new, And is always new. For neither the river Nor this tide can Can stop their flow. I say: There is nothing In the whole universe, Nothing that persists. For that which once was is now gone. Text is adapted by the composer from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Bk XV:176-198, “Pythagoras’s Teachings: The Eternal Flux.”

        Recording from the Brisbane Chamber Choir at the Adelaide Chamber Choir Festival, October 2023, via The Australian Digital Concert Hall.

         

        Lullaby (Treble)

        #MM2109

        This gentle piece expresses the the feelings of Mary as she reflects on the child she has borne. She feels affection for the sweet young babe she holds in her arms. Yet there is also wonderment and awe, as she understands his true nature and grapples with what the future holds for him. These are feelings similar to what any mother would have for her child. A mothers love is a universal theme. It can be understood by people of all faiths and creeds. Therefore, this piece, while sacred, can be sung in secular contexts as well as in services.

        A version of this piece is also available in SATB voicing here.

        The recording below is by the UQ Chamber Singers, 2022, conducted by Graeme Morton.

        Losing the Plot (SA)

        #MM1502

         

        Composer Paul Stanhope writes:

        Losing the Plot is a collection of songs for children’s voices and piano with texts by Michael Leunig. They were written as a follow up to my earlier cycle of Leunig pieces called Songs of Innocence and Joy for treble voices and chamber orchestra.

        The first of these pieces, Talking to My Shoe was commissioned and premiered by the Sydney Children’s Choir as part of their 15th anniversary in 2004. The remaining three songs in the cycle were commissioned by the Network of Treble Ensembles (NoTE) which includes Brisbane Biralee Voices, Gondwana Voices,Young Adelaide Voices and Young Voices of Melbourne. All the songs in this set are tinged with an exuberant sense of the absurd, but as usual with Leunig’s texts, there are many layers of meaning and often twists in the tale.

        The songs are written for upper-primary to high-school aged treble voices mostly in unison and two parts. In two songs—Talking to My Shoe and La–La Land—the choir splits into three parts, but only in a couple of short passages. A more difficult version of this piece also exists with the voices divided into three parts.

        Permission should be sought from Penguin Books Australia before re-printing any of the texts.

        The recordings are by the Australian Boys Choir conducted by Noel Ancell.

        Island Songs (SATB)

        #MM0409

        Three songs from the Torres Strait Islands to the north of Australia. Comprises Monkey and Turtle, Trade Winds and Morning Tide. Good for use in classrooms or with choirs at elementary or high school level.

        The SATB version is for unaccompanied choir. The treble version  has a piano accompaniment.

        Recordings of first piece “Monkey and a Turtle” and second piece “Trade Winds” are from Great Southern Spirits by The Australian Voices.

        Losing the Plot (SSA)

        #MM1500

        A collection of four pieces for treble voices and piano. Click the links below to view purchasing information.

        1. Talking to My Shoe

        2. Underpants Anthem

        3. La-La Land

        4. Lost the Plot

         

        Composer Paul Stanhope writes:

        Losing the Plot is a collection of songs for children’s voices and piano with texts by Michael Leunig. They were written as a follow up to my earlier cycle of Leunig pieces called Songs of Innocence and Joy for treble voices and chamber orchestra.

        The first of these pieces, Talking to My Shoe was commissioned and premiered by the Sydney Children’s Choir as part of their 15th anniversary in 2004. The remaining three songs in the cycle were commissioned by the Network of Treble Ensembles (NoTE) which includes Brisbane Biralee Voices, Gondwana Voices,Young Adelaide Voices and Young Voices of Melbourne. All the songs in this set are tinged with an exuberant sense of the absurd, but as usual with Leunig’s texts, there are many layers of meaning and often twists in the tale.

        The songs are written for upper-primary to high-school aged treble voices mostly in unison and two parts. In two songs—Talking to My Shoe and La–La Land—the choir splits into three parts, but only in a couple of short passages. A more difficult version of this piece also exists with the voices divided into three parts.

        Permission should be sought from Penguin Books Australia before re-printing any of the texts.

        The recordings are by the Australian Boys Choir conducted by Noel Ancell.

        Lament

        #MM2020

        SATB divisi choir a cappella or accompanied (by optional Tubular bell & String Orchestra). Originally part of a 30 minutes work Childers Shining which helped bring healing to a community after a fire tragedy caused the loss of 15 lives, this work was written to bring healing, transformation and upliftment.

         

        Lament (MM2020) SATB divisi a cappella or accompanied.
        Recording:  from ‘Childers Shining’~ music by Sarah Hopkins
        Performed by massed community choir with the Bundaberg Youth Orchestra conducted by Robert Rotar.

        Honour the Earth (SA)

        #MM2025

        Simple voice parts, yet a powerful piece with a powerful message surely more necessary now than ever before. This piece brings together many cultural influences from the “earth tribes” – Native American, African, Celtic, Aboriginal and Mongolian as well as the music of nature herself – birdcalls and flowing streams.SA divisi a cappella or accompanied.

        An ideal song for Festivals & whole school performances including massed choirs. SA divisi a cappella or accompanied (by Small Ensemble or Concert Band, Orchestra, String Orchestra or Cello Ensemble).

        The sound sample is from the CD : Honour the Earth ~ music by Sarah Hopkins
        TRACK 1 : Honour the Earth as Your Mother – for treble voice choir & orchestra commissioned & performed by Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, Melbourne, conducted by Nadene Gilmore.
        Also available in SATB voicing here.

        Honour The Earth (SATB)

        #MM2026

        Demonstration Recording: Montclair State University Singers directed by Dr. Heather J. Buchanan from the 2012 ACDA Eastern Division Conference.

        Simple voice parts, yet a powerful piece with a powerful message surely more necessary now than ever before. This piece brings together many cultural influences from the “earth tribes” – Native American, African, Celtic, Aboriginal and Mongolian as well as the music of nature herself – birdcalls and flowing streams.SATB divisi a cappella or accompanied.

        An ideal song for Festivals & whole school performances including massed choirs. SATB divisi a cappella or accompanied (by Small Ensemble or Concert Band, Orchestra, String Orchestra or Cello Ensemble).

        Also available in SA voicing here.

        Hullayha (SATB)

        #MM2021
        Unaccompanied recording from ‘ON THE ROAD with St Peters Chorale’ directed by Graeme Morton

        Accompanied Recording from CD ‘Childers Shining’ ~ music by Sarah Hopkins performed by massed community choir with the Bundaberg Youth Orchestra conducted by Robert Rotar.

        Hullayha (pronounced ‘Hull-ay-ha’) for SATB divisi choir a cappella or accompanied (by optional percussion, String Orchestra or Full Orchestra). The soulful opening gradually transforms into abundant joy. All the melodies are very ‘singable’ & supported by sustained drones which ‘birth’ out of the melody line.

        Available in SA voicing here.

        Hullayha (SA)

        #MM2022

        Hullayha (pronounced ‘Hull-ay-ha’) for SA divisi choir a cappella or accompanied (by optional percussion, String Orchestra or Full Orchestra). The soulful opening gradually transforms into abundant joy. All the melodies are very ‘singable’ & supported by sustained drones which ‘birth’ out of the melody line.

        Available in SATB voicing here.

        Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

        #MM2031

        A lovely setting of this beloved text by Mary Frye, which speaks comfort as it were, beyond the grave. For unaccompanied SATB choir, Joe Twist wrote it for Graeme Morton and the National Youth Choir of Australia. Highly recommended.

        Rain Dream

        #MM2033

        A highly imaginative choral piece for SSAA choir and piano. In it a young child who lives in the dry central Australian outback and has never seen rain dreams of what it would be like to be in a thunderstorm. The work eventually becomes a sort of rain dance with chanting of “Wandjina”, an Australian Aboriginal rain spirit.

        The Springtime it Brings on the Shearing

        #MM1016

        A lyrical and charming Australian folksong set for SATB choir and piano. This is a simple arrangement that brings out the grace and charm of the melody. The score gives and explanation of all the Australian slang in the song, arising as it does from the Australian colonial period and the vast sheep-raising properties that were characteristic of this history.

        This song makes a great contrast with Bullocky-O, also arranged by Graeme Morton.

        Come Ye Makers of Song

        #MM1015

        This piece owes much to Henry Purcell since it uses Ruth Watson Henderson’s lovely paraphrase of “Come Ye Sons of Art”. The music is simple (in 2 parts), with metre changes that always follow the flow of text and underpinned by constant eighth notes in the accompaniment. The piece is energetic and vibrant and makes an excellent start to a program or bracket for your choir.

        ,

        Araluen

        #MM2043

        Another Australian work with that characteristic “Orlovich sound” – fresh, buoyant, vital and energized, but without weight and drama. It is always clean on the palate. The sample recording is by the National Youth Choir of Australia.

        On The Night Train

        #MM2032

        Composer Joe Twist writes,

        On The Night Train sets the scene of a train dashing through the Australian bush at dusk, as described by Henry Lawson’s graceful poetry.The emptiness of the Australian outback is represented by long, sustained pitches in the opening and closing sections of the work, above which a simple, folk-like melody is sung. This melody is also used throughout a rhythmic contrasting section where the singers create the impression of a moving train with ‘scat-like’ nonsense syllables and whispered vocal effects.

        Wake Up!

        #MM2610

        Wake Up! is a rhythmic and energetic piece that re-imagines the choir ensemble as a contemporary band. Amongst the global frenzy of contemporary culture, hip-hop and urban music has become the ‘folk music’ that resonates strongly with our current generation. This piece captures the vibrancy of those rhythms and melodies through the imitation of driving hip-hop beats and vociferous rap vocal.

         

        Ave Maria

        #MM0610
        Boughen’s two part sacred piece for treble voice and organ is a reflective arrangement of the classic text. Suitable for an advanced choir of young voices.