News from Vocal Works

As I work with sacred solo music, I occasionally make discoveries that I think would be of interest to the users of this website.  I see these as different from the "Extras" which I expect to keep more or less indefinitely.  Any "News" item will become less relevant in the ensuing days or weeks, so I will purge items on this page frequently. You can find older items in the News Archive.
 

However, there were often copies of this old music that came to me in perfect or near-perfect condition.  I promised Louise Cleveland (Maynard) that I wouldn't discard it, so it went in a special box.

I have just organized that music (761 pieces in all), and I'm offering it to those who want to replace their old tattered copies or fill in gaps in their library.  Click here to open a page with a table that organizes this collection by title/composer and range/key. 
 

Besides Lift Up Your Voice, there is Eleven Scriptural Songs fromt he Twentieth Century and 12 sheet music titles, including 9 settings of MBE poems.  This music is in perfect condition and offered at "fire sale" prices.  Click here for details of contents of each book and pricing information.
 

That means that someday this site will be unavailable – not soon, I trust, but someday. Out of my concern for those who rely on the resources provided by the site I sent, on 2/3/24, a message to the 350+ churches and individuals on my mailing list, announcing “Solo Bank Insurance.”

Because of the way this site is designed, it is possible to put all its files, including the 2,000+ recordings, on a single flash drive. I’m calling it Solo Bank Insurance because having the files on a flash drive means that one can insert the flash drive into one’s computer and access all the features of the site – without an Internet connection – thus making the key features of the site available for decades.

Of course, once on a flash drive, the site can not be updated, and the current version of the flash drive reflects the site as it was on February 29, 2024. However, I expect to make an updated flash drive at 6-month intervals as long as I’m able.

The offer I made in early February to those on my mailing list was that I would send them the flash drive at a cost of $215, and so far, 16 individuals and churches have taken advantage of the offer. My offer stands as long as I’m able to create the drives. Furthermore, purchasers will be able to get updated versions of the drive at a substantially reduced price.

There is more detail in my original email of 2/3/24, which you can access here.

To request a drive, call me (Dick Frantzreb) at 916/781-2900 or email frantz@vocal-works.com.
 

You can find "All Things Are Possible" in the "Latest Solos" page and in the Title and Composer pages.  Also, the lyrics are available here.  Until she arranges a regular distributor, you can request sheet music from her by e-mail, rselkins@fuse.net.
 

My incorrect understanding was that obtaining this music from the rights holder, Carl Fischer Music, was difficult and required the purchase of multiple copies at high prices.  That was incorrect.  Recently, I've tested acquiring music from Carl Fischer and found prices and service quite reasonable.  The details are here:  https://www.vocal-works.com/CarlFischer.htm.

With new confidence in the easy availability of music from Carl Fischer, I have replaced 34 blanks in the "Source" column with Y's.
 

Her latest composition is new words to Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" that should work better than traditional lyrics in the Christian Science church setting.  To encourage Solo Bank users to familiarize themselves with Ms. Siler's work, I will send, on request, PDFs of all 6 of her titles without charge through April 30 of this year.
 

The music was only published in manuscript form and was copyrighted by Mr. Graham personally. He sold the music until his passing, and his wife, Jean, continued the sales briefly thereafter. For the past 20 years, there has been no way to purchase his music, except the few extra originals that I have acquired and have been able to send by postal mail. The copyright has kept me from offering this music as PDFs via e-mail.

Over the years I have expended a lot of effort to track down composers or their heirs in order to request permission to distribute their music. Fortunately, there have been perhaps a dozen cases where this permission was granted. There have also been cases where my research has led me to believe that a copyright has been abandoned by disinterested heirs. Now, I have decided that this is the case for the music of William E. Graham, which has been largely withheld from use by Christian Science churches for the 20+ years since his passing and that of his wife. Accordingly, the 9 compositions by Mr. Graham in the Solo Bank will now be available as PDFs via e-mail. My plan is to add the remaining 3 pieces in the coming months.
 

It wasn't until a Solo Bank user reported difficulty in contacting Ms. Barber that I realized she had disappeared from all traces on the Internet.  I sent many letters and made many phone calls until I was finally able to locate her daughter, who was unaware that her mother (now in an assisted living facility) had ever published music.  The happy ending is that mother and daughter have granted me permission to distribute music from Sacred Classics: 19 Solos for Voice and Keyboard.  Another mystery solved!
 

Also, the "My Favorites" list has only included recordings of my singing.  Yet there are many excellent recordings from other singers in the Solo Bank.  I should have highlighted those long before now, but at last you can access a list of what I consider to be the best 70 or so of the contributions of guest singers.  Here's a direct link.
 

In his response to my e-mail, he was amazed that his setting of "In Heavenly Love Abiding" had turned up because he had forgotten about it.  He didn't know how to get a copy (legally), suggesting that I write to Paraclete Press.  I just heard from them.

Paraclete Press has authorized me to make 5 copies of this piece without charge.  Furthermore, I have discovered that I can get permission from other publishers to make small numbers of copies for a modest price.  The limitation is that I can't sell these to users of the Solo Bank.  Accordingly, I will note that they are "free solos."  I will print the authorized number of copies and mail them to requestors in the least expensive way possible.  And requestors should not pay me for the service.  It's a clumsy way of distribution in this electronic age, but I'm just glad that many pieces of music, hitherto completely unavailable, can be supplied to those who will appreciate them.
 

With this, another blank in the Solo Bank's source column is filled in.  If you make similar discoveries, please let me know, and I'll pass the information along.
 

I don't have a copy of his "The Christ Is Here," and I need better copies (original or PDF) of "Our Purpose," "The Promised Comforter Is Come," and his setting of MBE's "Love."  Please check your church music library, and if you can, please consider sending me these items.
 

I was completely unaware of this album until I got the cassette. I’ve listened to it at least a half-dozen times in the past week, and to me, it’s delightful. Carolyn wrote the music, with titles like “Old Growth Forest” and “Backroads of Oregon.” She and her brother Roger Kardinal did the vocals, with help from children family members, plus light instrumentation and even sound effects ─ all professionally produced, to my mind. I’d describe the style as folk music, with memorable, frequently toe-tapping melodies. Overall, the songs glorify nature, conservation, and Oregon heritage.

Although the physical media may be hard to acquire, all 12 tracks of the album are on YouTube. You can search for “Carolyn Kardinal” to find them interspersed with recordings of Carolyn’s sacred music. They were posted by someone named Armitage Soulshroude, so the easiest way to access all the tracks is to subscribe to his channel.
 

Initially, Laura told me that as far as she knew, those were the only two songs her mother had written.  Then, a week later, she wrote to say that she had found 3 more settings of MBE poems, copyrighted, but in manuscript form.  She sent them to me, and I was delighted to find that they were as appealing as the two songs I had bought 20 years earlier.

Laura also gave me permission to distribute this music, and now all 5 of her mother's compositions are available and recorded in the Solo Bank.  I'm thrilled that all the work of this inspired and talented composer is now available.
 

The full list of these new songs is in Peter's website at www.pbamusic.com.  Using PayPal, you can purchase the songs individually or the whole collection at once ─ for instant download.  You can also listen to Peter's albums published between 1994 and 2007, and see videos of performances of a number of songs, including a few from this new collection.  And of course you can purchase his earlier vocal works.
 

Carolyn's legacy is her prolific body of work over the past 2 decades:  81 wonderful songs.  Sheet music and accompaniment tracks for all are available from Watchfire Music (www.watchfiremusic.com), and recordings of 80 are available here in the Solo Bank.  Also you can hear Josh Henn sing 8 of her songs on his CD "Open Mine Eyes" available at this link.  Or hear him sing 7 more in his "God So Loved the World" CD, available at this link.

Carolyn wrote so much music that I imagine that no one reading this has heard each of her compositions, so I'm starting a special feature ─ "81 Days of Carolyn Kardinal" ─ one of her songs featured on this site each day until April 3, 2023.