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Text Epitaph Come Gentle Dark If I die with music in my mouth, remember I have lived with it anon, Have turnéd sound and word to raise your sagging spirits with a song and brush away frustrations for a while. But what men will not know is that an elixir was brewed to propel my vagrant mind to create a lovely sound, The lovely sound of word and tune that men have labeled art.
Come gentle dark, Enfold us in thine arms, We dare not ask the blessing of bright day, Lest it expose for all to see and hear The wild alarms that blur the peace and quiet of our day. Old fading light, The shadow of the cross That falls upon the stubborn thoughts of man, Here but one shaft of light lest we are yet a loss, Repeating ancient errors o’er again.
If I die with music in my mouth, remember I have lived with it anon.
Program Notes The Gentlemen’s Ensemble of Louisville’s Youth Performing Arts School, under the direction of Jacob Cook, commissioned …with music… for their performance at the 2014 Intercollegiate Men’s Chorus Festival at Rutgers University. It combines Epitaph and Come Gentle Dark, previously unpublished songs written by John Jacob Niles. Niles was a graduate of Louisville’s Manual High School, where YPAS is housed. While the two poems are obviously linked by the concept of death, I’m particularly drawn to the use in each of a central contrast: music in Epitaph and light in Come Gentle Dark. Something tells me that Niles saw those two concepts as being interchangeable. May we recognize the great light that is music, and its ability to sustain us even through the darkest nights. Special thanks to the John Jacob Niles Collection of the University of Kentucky for their assistance and the Niles Family Estate for granting kind permission to use and adapt these fantastic songs.
Cover photo, Rebirth taken by the composer, Walls of Jericho, Skyline Wildlife Management Area, Alabama, March 16, 2010.
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to Hope Koehler and Ron Pen for their invaluable contributions to the music of John Jacob Niles.
...with music... Text and Music by John Jacob Niles
SA
Arranged by Julian David Bryson
TB
Piano
q = 60
p
Come gen - tle dark.
If
q = 60
pp
p
If
pp
with
mp
I die...
Come gen - tle dark
mp
I
p
die with
7
SA
mu
-
sic,
q = 66
re - mem - ber I have lived with it a - non,
pp
Come gen - tle
p TB mu - sic in my mouth, re - mem - ber I have lived with it a - non, Come gen - tle
Piano
This score is not licensed
mel.
dark, come gen - tle
dark,
come gen - tle
q = 66
pp
This arrangement Copyright © 2017 Julian David Bryson Use of Niles materials courtesy of the John Jacob Niles Collection, University of Kentucky and by permission of the Niles Family Estate. All rights reserved. Licensed through MusicSpoke.com License is non-transferrable. should have a copy of to the purchase license to legally use this music. for performance. PleaseDirector visit MusicSpoke.com performance copies.
V.S.
4 Choral Score
12
SA
dark
TB
mp p harmony
en - fold us in
thine arms,
p
dark
en - fold us in thine
arms,
Piano
mp mel.
we dare
not ask the
we dare not
ask the
bless - ing, the bless - ing of bright day,
bless ing, the bless
of
-
ing
of bright day
mp mel.
19
SA
day, Lest it ex - pose for all to
see and hear the
wild a - larms that
blur the peace and
p TB
Lest it ex - pose for all to
see and hear the
wild a - larms that
blur the peace and
Piano
qui - et of
qui - et of
our
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our
5 Choral Score
S 25
day,
mp
A
day, mp
mel. mf
mp
Re- mem- ber
I have lived with it
mf
a - non,
Have
tu - néd sound and
mp
I have lived with it mf
a - non,
Have mp
tu - néd sound
I have lived with it a - non, Have day, mf mp B
Piano
Re- mem- ber
I have lived with it
mf
a - non,
f
S 28
sag - ging spi - rits with a song, and brush a-way frus - tra - tions
A
raise
T
a
song
and brush a-way frus - tra - tions
tu - néd sound
and word
to
word to raise your
mf
while.
while.
for a -
rit.
for a -
to
q = 60
.
mf sag - ging spi - rits with a song, and brush a-way frus - tra - tions for a - while. Come gen - tle
B
raise
Piano
and word
tu - néd sound and
Have
word to raise your
T
day,
a
song
and brush a-way frus - tra - tions
mf
Come gen - tle
for a - while.
rit.
q = 60
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6 Choral Score
mf 32
SA
q = 72 poco accel.
Old fa - ding light,
TB
sha - dow
Come gen - tle sha - dow
of the
mp
dark,
the
of the
cross
that
cross, the sha - dow
q = 72 poco accel.
Piano
mp
falls up - on the stub - born thoughts of
falls up - on the stub - born thoughts of
38
SA
man
here but one shaft of light lest
mf
TB man, Old fa - ding light.
Piano
we are yet
a
loss,
re peat - ing an - cient er - rors o'er a -
mp
One light lest
we are yet a
loss, a loss re - peat - ing an - cient er - rors o'er a -
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7 Choral Score
f S 45
q = 88 rit.
gain,
a - gain,
mf
a - gain,
gain, a - gain,
a - gain
a - gain,
a - gain a - gain, gain, a - gain, f
T
f
B
a - gain,
gain,
q = 88 rit.
Piano
mf
52
S
brew
A
brew
T
brew
B
brew
Piano
-
-
a - gain,
a - gain. But what
f
A
q = 60
-
a - gain, what men will not know is that an e - lix mf
-
ir
was
men will not know is that an e - lix
mf
q = 60
éd
to pro - pell my va - grant mind to cre - ate a love - ly sound,
éd
to pro - pell my va - grant mind to cre - ate a love - ly sound,
-
éd
to pro - pell my va - grant mind to cre - ate a love - ly sound,
-
éd
to pro - pell my va - grant mind to cre - ate a love - ly sound,
-
a - gain, what men will not know is that an e - lix mp
men will not know is that an e - lix
mp
a - gain. But what
molto rit.
was
ir
was
-
ir
was
q = 40
mp
The
mp
The
mp
molto rit.
ir
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mp
The
The
q = 40
8 Choral Score
SA
56
q = 60
love - ly sound of word and tune that men have la - beled art.
TB
love - ly sound of word and tune that men have la - beled art.
Piano
p
pp
q = 60
pp
S 61
A
T
B
p
Come gen p
Come gen
-
-
tle dark,
tle dark,
mp
die...
I
die...
mf
Come gen
If
Come gen
mp
I
die...
-
tle dark, Come gen
-
tle dark, Come gen
-
tle
-
tle
mf
If I
die...
with mu -
sic,
die...
with mu -
sic,
mp
If
mf
gen - tle dark,
p
If
gen - tle dark,
p
I
Come
Come
Piano
If
mp
mf
I
die...
mp
If I
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9 Choral Score
S 66
dark.
A
Come
dark.
T
B
If
I
die
-
sic, mu
mf
S 69
q = 46
non.
A
with
mp
Come
non.
Piano
q = 46
dark,
I have lived with it
mu - sic, Come
gen
die with mu -
I
die with mu -
sic, re - mem - ber f
-
tle
dark,
I have lived with it
a -
I have lived with it
a -
I have lived with it
a -
sic, re - mem - ber
molto rit.
gen
gen
-
-
f
molto rit.
a -
I
tle
If
mp
-
sic,
Come
non.
T non. B
-
gen
molto rit.
f
If
mu
Piano
tle
tle
dark.
dark.
p
Come
gen
p
Come
gen
-
tle
dark.
-
tle
dark.
molto rit.
mp
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hot and humid July 11, 2017
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If you enjoyed …with music…, please also consider the following works from my catalog, available at or coming soon to MusicSpoke.com: Commissioned to celebrate the ordination of a deacon, All Things New (SATB Choir and String Quartet or Piano) speaks to the human desire to improve ourselves and our world. Built upon a handful of symbolic musical motives, this piece yearns, grows, and eventually comes to rest transformed and inspired. Fire and Ice (SSATB, a cappella) along with Quibbles and Quirks for wind quintet and Conflictions for brass quintet, began as exercises in counterpoint. Though I didn’t conceive of them as a set, upon further reflection, I see them as having remarkable similarities. All are for five voices, involve imitation, and represent conversations. Fire and Ice, in particular, takes the well-known poem and weaves it into a dialogue—at times an argument—inviting both choir and audience to take sides. Because the text is so familiar, I didn’t concern myself with clarity in its setting, instead focusing on the similar vowel sounds central to key words. This leaves the conclusion up to the audience’s decision, even as late as the final chord, where both fire and ice sound simultaneously. Lacrimas (SATB with mezzo-soprano solo, a cappella) weaves the familiar Psalm text, "They that sow in tears will reap in joy" into a poignant moment from St. Augustine's confessions: "And sending out tears, where I was holding them in, so that they should flow so smoothly, they spread out beneath my heart and it rests on them." Musically, the piece develops in waves that emanate from the opening “sobbing” gesture. The University of Alabama in Huntsville Chamber Choir premiered the work under the direction of Dr. Erin Colwitz-Dehning as part of the Huntsville New Music Festival of 2011. Thomas Moore’s Minstrel Boy (SATB or TTBB with piano) describes an iconic “warrior bard,” committed to defending not only land, but ideals. For him, freedom of thought, speech, and art was more important than his life, and this strong and creative soul preferred death to oppression. While this tune has long been associated with memorials for first responders, I also see it as a call to arms for artists. Join us on the battlefield of ideas with harp and song and voices.
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
O nata lux (SATB, a cappella): On September 12, 2001, members of the University of Tennessee Concert Choir walked into our choir room in a state of shock. Reeling from the previous day’s attacks, none of us really wanted to rehearse, but somehow we knew it was exactly where we needed to be. After warm-ups, we sang Morten Lauridsen’s setting of O nata lux, which we had just begun to learn. Suddenly, the music took on a new meaning and ushered in a memorable hour of sharing, crying, and healing. Something about the line, “for the sake of the lost ones” stuck with me, and over the next several days, I developed my own musical response to both the tragedy and text that had invaded all of our lives. I am humbled by so many beautiful settings of this prayer and in some ways feel illequipped to offer yet one more. However, I continue to count it among my favorite compositions. Winner of the 2013 American Choral Directors Association Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition, Redemption Mass (SATB chorus, wind quintet, piano, and percussion) is a tuneful, rhythmic, and inspiring setting of traditional and non-traditional texts. The simple, yet haunting Kyrie evokes ancient chants, while the rhythmically driving Gloria uses overlapping ostinato paints a picture of the Heavenly throne room described in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Credo is an exuberant statement of faith filled with text painting, while the most accessible movement, Sanctus, is an uplifting song of praise again referencing the scene in Isaiah 6. Finally, Agnus Dei recalls themes from previous movements of the Mass against a stunning wall of sound, erupting into a passionate plea for peace. This accessible setting of We Are the Music Makers (SATB and piano) brings O'Shaughnessy's famous text to life through lush harmonies, word painting, and exciting fanfares. Dedicated to the Randolph High School Class of 2011, it was premiered by their Concert Choir during their Commencement ceremonies.
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