Image Source: https://thenewdaily.com.au Click here, for the arrangement in parts: This is a song I felt compelled to write in October 2017, aghast at Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers. The second verse of our national anthem has the lines, “For those who’ve come across the seas, We’ve boundless plains to share;”. We should be more… Continue reading Lament for Manus Island
Tag: Doug McPherson
It’s Getting Really Hard to Sing Advance Australia Fair -Simpler Version
An older more complex arrangement of this can be found by clicking here. The version below, 1.3, has the alto voices doubling the bass part, except for the ends of lines 4 and 5. There is no tenor line, but there are descant notes in the melody line for the cadences, again at the ends… Continue reading It’s Getting Really Hard to Sing Advance Australia Fair -Simpler Version
Join Your Union: Simplified
Simplified Arrangement Click here for a more complex arrangement. The resources below are for an arrangement of John Warner’s song, with the Alto line the same as the Bass, except for the end of each phrase. The basses of course sing an octave lower. The tenor line is identical to the melody, except for a… Continue reading Join Your Union: Simplified
Singing Exercise: Octave Glissandi For Altos
This is an exercise in seamlessly changing registers, moving from one part of the voice to another. The aim should be a smooth sound sliding from one note to another, and back again. The exercise is probably easier to sing than to read about, so feel free to jump in, play the sound file and sing… Continue reading Singing Exercise: Octave Glissandi For Altos
Walk On
This is an arrangement of a song by ‘Dogmatic Music’, From ‘Walk On’ Kit – Reconciliation Week, Sorry Day. The educational resource, to commemorate Sorry Day or Reconciliation Week, designed for schools can be purchased and downloaded here. You can hear their excellent rendition of the song here. You can find out more about Dogmatic Music and… Continue reading Walk On
Ballad of 1891
This is a song about the 1891 Australian shearers’ strike. The song has been arranged in three parts: Words: Helen Palmer; Music: Doreen Jacobs; ©1950 Doreen Bridges Sheet Music Here is the definitive score, I’ve worked from, sourced from the Sydney Trade Union Choir, (STUC) in Cm. Sydney Trade Union Choir Score (.pdf) From this… Continue reading Ballad of 1891
Power In A Union
Here is an arrangement of Billy Bragg’s veritable anthem, “Power In A Union”, based on the American Civil War song, “The Battle Cry of Freedom”, which was written by the wonderfully named George F. Root. This arrangement by Christine Evans, with annotations including chords and the appropriate entry point for the bass voices. Aside from… Continue reading Power In A Union
Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Pete Seeger’s simple but effective song about mankind’s inability to learn the lessons of history. A simple arrangement for the Illawarra Union Singers. Scroll down for Pete’s story about how the song came to be. Sheet Music: PDF Practice Track Pete Seeger on how the song came to be written: “I had been reading a… Continue reading Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
I Come and Stand at Every Door
These lyrics from an original Turkish poem by Nazim Hikmet, English translation by Jeanette Turner were set to music by Pete Seeger in 1962, using music by James Waters, (“The Great Silkie”). Pete sang the song in C, and later in life D. Choirs might usefully sing it in D or E. Note that the… Continue reading I Come and Stand at Every Door
One World, One Chance: A Song
I don’t know the provenance of this song. The two bits of sheet music I have found have the attribution, “Devised by Raised Voices of Climate Change Demonstration”, London December 3rd 2005. Tune: “Mayenziwe ‘Ntando Yakho”. Full SATB Version (Scroll down or click here for a simplified version) Sheet Music: PDF All Parts Soprano or… Continue reading One World, One Chance: A Song