News

Vocal Works

News from Vocal Works

A Word of Explanation

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.

Added 1/25/25: A Brief Concert for Truth

I have been especially inspired by the Lesson-Sermon for January 26,2025 on "Truth." It has moved me to collect just a few of the many solos in the Solo Bank that can serve as musical footnotes to ideas in this Lesson. Click here to go to a page where you can play them and see the words, plus additional information for each piece.

Added 11/21/24: Early Voices - "Body - The Embodiment of Ideas"

After 2 years, I've added a new recording to the Early Voices collection. It's an excerpt from Martha Wilcox's association address of 1945. Titled "Body - The Embodiment of Ideas," it is especially interesting in the context of this week's (11/24/24) Lesson on "Soul and Body."

Added 10/14/24: Obtaining the Music of Darcey Press

Over the years, Darcey Press (www.darceypress.com) has published nearly a dozen collections of sacred music, featuring the compositions of Adrienne Tindall, Robert J. Powell, Austin Lovelace, and numerous others. They have also published a number of titles of sheet music. To obtain sheet music for titles covered in the Solo Bank, you can order one of these collections directly from Darcey Press. As an alternative, some individual Darcey Music solos are available for online delivery from Watchfire Music. Note that Darcey Press publishes compositions of over 50 composers: https://darceypress.com/composers/.

Added 10/14/24: Scriptural References for Darcey Press Music

In 2008, Darcey Press published a list biblical references in the 150 titles of their vocal music. The information is in order of the books of the Bible, with full biblical citations, plus title, composer and location of the individual piece of music. Besides biblical references, the document notes poems and hymns as sources. You can download this resource without charge from Darcey Press's home page, www.darceypress.com.

Added 8/11/24: Sale of Century-Old Sheet Music

For years I have scanned music that is out of copyright (published before 1929), and sold it on request as a PDF, sent by email. But what about the originals? Music that is that old is typically tattered, so why save it?

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.

Added 8/11/24: From the Coburn Press Warehouse

Coburn Press was founded by Marcia Bush Stearns, wife of well-known sacred music composer, Peter Pindar Stearns. The company is best known for Lift Up Your Voice, a collection of sacred solos that was compiled and edited by Ms. Stearns and published in 1971. Recently, I got a call from the Stearns' daughter, Gloria Stearns-Bruner, who has had to store large quantities of Coburn Press music and would like to get as much of it as possible into the hands of those who could use it.

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.

Added 7/2/24: Calling All Composers - Reaching Generations to Come

Will people be able to listen to your sacred solo music in 50 years, or 100 years? If it's only on CDs or in a website ─ even this one ─ probably not. But there is an option with no cost and little effort on your part. See my proposal here.

Updated 6/6/24: New Composer - David O. Wise

I've just listened to 8 of the compositions of David O. Wise, newly added to Watchfire Music's panel of composers. So far, there are 12 titles of Wise's music available, including settings of the most familiar 7 of Mary Baker Eddy's poems.

What is especially notable about this new composer is that he has a YouTube channel with full recordings of 8 of his compositions, with Wise at the piano and his wife, Jane Moyer, singing (beautifully, I might add). The YouTube channel is at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPlAnCqH2xXmvH26rkAQbXzdPY4WOdgbw.

I invited Wise to let me add recordings of his music to the Solo Bank ─ and he agreed. All 8 recordings are now in the Solo Bank, and I hope to be able to add the last 4 soon.

Added 5/20/24: Sunday Solo Music in Spanish

I've been contacted by a small Christian Science congregation that has services in English and Spanish. Their challenge is finding recorded solos in Spanish that are appropriate for a CS service. They love Julia Wade's "Alabado sei Dios," but they are wondering if there are other CDs or available recordings. Contact me (Dick Frantzreb), and I'll pass the information along.

Added 4/9/24: Solo Bank Insurance - Preserving Access to the Solo Bank

Since I started this website 20+ years ago, it has been a one-man operation, and unfortunately the complexity of its design make it virtually impossible to simply pass the site along to be mamintained by another person or organization, while preserving the free access that has characterized the site from the beginning.

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.

Added 4/3/24: The Music of Henry Joy Taylor

Over the past few years, there has been in the Solo Bank some incorrect information about the availability of the music of Henry Joy Taylor. To clarify, all 4 of Taylor's compositions are now available as PDFs through the normal Solo Bank ordering process. I recorded them fairly recently, and doing so was a joyful experience (no pun intended). If you sample this music, you will find that one or another of them will frequently be a good candidate for a Sunday solo.