Voicing: Flexible

Graeme Morton’s A Red, Red Rose beautifully captures the romance of Scottish poet, Robert Burns’ text of the same title. Heart wrenching harmony and union of voice and strings evoke the poignancy of the text – And I will love thee still my dear, til all the seas gang dry. Til all the seas gang dry my dear, and the rocks melt with the sun; and I will love thee still my dear, while the sands o’ life shall run.

A stunning piece for SATB voices with viola or violin and an excellent addition to your concert programme.

Recording by the Brisbane Chamber Choir, directed by Graeme Morton.

For your convenience, both the viola and violin parts are attached separately below, free of charge.

A Red Red Rose – Viola

A Red Red Rose – Violin

Suitable for elementary or high school use. The score is a blueprint which simply indicates basic material with which the choir can work. The choir and conductor are encouraged to make major decisions concerning their performance and the result is lots of fun!

A delightful set of rounds for students in lower primary grades and upwards. These can be interpreted in the traditional way but Chris suggests many contemporary possibilities for each round. This publication includes a licensing agreement for copying within a single institution.

One of the easiest and most immediately appealing from Stephen Leek’s In Construction series. It is suitable for singers of all ages and uses indigenous Australian words that are spoken in rhythm at various pitch levels. “Kumbargung” means “night” and other evocative words include “ungi gungi” (grasshopper) and “goolay yali” (pelican). A delight for all ages!

An arrangement of a folk song about sailors and the sea. Simple yet delightful, this piece is written for piano and solo flute accompaniment.

“Riawanna” is an Australian native word for “circles” and the piece is a do-it-yourself round with thousands of possibilities. It includes mixed meters. The final instruction in the accompanying notes says it all: “have fun”.

The sound file is by Eltham East Primary School Choir’s CD Sea Shapes, conducted by Anne Williams.

This is the ultimate in a flexible edition! Unison, SAA, TBB and SATB choirs can sing the music from this copy. Based on the old Dutch carol, McKinley’s accompaniment fairly bowls along in a quasi-Baroque style. An excellent addition to the sacred Easter repertoire for any choir.

A delightful choral piece for junior choristers aged six to nine. The three stanzas of this song feature graceful singable lines in a classical style. Highly recommended for a choir’s first competition.