Robert and I were asked to sing at
the Stapley Stake Conference back in APRIL 2011. The song theme was temples, but the stipulation was
that we had to choose a song from the hymn book….what to do, what to
do? After accepting the assigment, I thought selecting a hymn would take all of 5 minutes..but nope!
I had been hitting one dead end after another. None of the
choices were striking me as “the one”. Some of the temple themed hymns, as is, come across sounding a little hokey, and they just didn't seem right for the situation. Around 10pm that night, I thought,
“Why not create an arrangement with a
modified melody?”
Hymn #288 started
floating through my mind, but with a
different tune. In a flash of major inspiration, I stayed awake that whole night and wrote out the
entire thing. No really! It was all finished by 3.a.m! Well……Cool! THIS IS KIND OF A BIG
DEAL BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER FINISHED A SONG THAT QUICKLY. Heavenly Father obviously helped!!
Warning:This duet voicing was not necessarily written to be user friendly to the masses.. I'm married to a guy who has a very large range, so I get away with writing some peculiar/difficult/questionable range and voice leading when I know he's going to sing it.
If you have a male voice that can handle lows and highs(including using male head voice at the very end), and a female voice who has a meaty mezzo-ish mid/low range,(unlike myself........cough cough) then this is the duet for you!!! :D
You will find almost all of the dynamic markings in the piano line. They apply to the singers as well.
The original key is DM, but because of the key change to B in the middle of the piece, I have
made a transposed version that starts in E flat M and changes to C.
Guess which version that most pianists prefer???? Lol.
(kudos to
Wally Taylor for playing the original version like a boss)
Click these links for PDFs of sheet music!
E FLAT MAJOR
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3A_oLvMRe-cbDctb0g5VGZ3VEk/view?usp=sharing
D MAJOR (original version) if your pianist isn't going to like a key change ending in
B Major...then choose the E FLAT version Lol.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3A_oLvMRe-cUkRLMllhVzRSWkk/view?usp=sharing
Here's the post that has an SSA version:
http://soundswrightmusic.blogspot.com/2016/07/vocal-trio-hymns-how-beautiful-thy.html
Here's the post that has a SATB Choral version:
http://soundswrightmusic.blogspot.com/2016/07/choral-arrangement-satbhow-beautiful.html
Here is a nice Thanksgiving Medley written for and performed by the Montelena Ward Choir (Queen Creek) in Fall of 2013.
Depending on your Climate, this song could be referring to deciduous activity that happens in the Autumn OR Winter . (over here, it's more a winter thing)
While in school, Robert was asked to sing the St.Maarten National Anthem
at the upcoming White Coat Ceremony. The only copy on hand was a very
old, poorly/inaccurately notated sheet of "music". I did my best to FIX it in
accordance with the ACTUAL rhythm and notes that most people use when singing
it.
Oh sweeeeeeeeeet St. Maarten's land.......
Finally!!! Barely finished 10 minutes ago, and ready for the music blog!! I've been working on this song for the past several days, but the labor and delivery is over. (ha) Seriously, it really feels like giving birth to write out new material...If not that, then defintely like pulling teeth. I'll take either comparison. Transcribing into sheet music form is my least favorite part about creating music. OY!!!! (All the second guessing, back and forth decisions to scrap a piece or not, and mini internal meltdowns don't help either. You fellow composers know what I mean!)
Having grown up watching several of those Bing Crosby/Bob Hope classics such as "On the Road to Morocco, On the Road to Singapore, etc, etc, I wanted to write a tropical song that had a charm/quaintness similar to the songs you hear on those shows. :)
Behold the very first choral arrangement I ever attempted. This one dates back to 1998! Our Ward Choir Director, Jennie Green, asked me to do a little tweaking of the Primary Song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and....well....I went a little overboard. The Neely ward choir pulled it off though! Those altos deserved Klondike Bars! It was awesome!
Here is a lovely Art Song with text by John Masefield and arranged by Robert Wright. It's a great piece for male voices. 
A great, Tropical themed ULTRA EASY piece for a beginner student.
Here's another ULTRA BASIC Tropical song for your brand new beginners! Key of C, and a couple left hand chords on the second line. Piece of cake!
Simple piece with some C scale practice included!
Robert was asked to sing Abide With Me, 'Tis Eventide for the August 18th, 2014 Sacrement Meeting.
This is a nice, tranquil, mood builder.
Get ready for some left hand work on this awesome, infamous gun battle! 
This is a simple, abridged version of Joy To The World for beginners. No 8th notes, a metrically even 4/4 time signature, and the good ol' Key of C..It's a great piece for young students who really, really, really want to play Joy To The World! Lol.
Here's a spunky piece for your more experienced beginner students. You can almost hear the little crab scuttling about. :)
Here is an ultra basic tropical themed song for a brand new beginner! It's Treble Clef dominate, but there are a few notes to get the Bass involved as well!
The awesome Melissa Taylor requested a choral version of the duet: How Beautiful Thy Temples Lord, for her ward choir. I was happy to oblige!
Robert and I were asked to sing at the Stapley Stake Conference back in APRIL 2011. The song theme was temples, but the stipulation was
that we had to choose a song from the hymn book….what to do, what to
do? After accepting the assigment, I thought selecting a hymn would take all of 5 minutes..but nope!
If you have a male voice that can handle lows and highs(including using male head voice at the very end), and a female voice who has a meaty mezzo-ish mid/low range,(unlike myself........cough cough) then this is the duet for you!!! :D
This fun, western piece gives students an opportunity to strengthen chromatic skills as well as triple vs. duple rhythms!
Fools Gold is a carefree piano solo with a classic, saloon-esque swing rhythm. A few slightly dense chords, but the tune is catchy! Play it a few times and you'll be hooked!