Baritone

Ecstasy, Op.19 No.2, by Mrs. H. H. A. Beach

Two versions, for "Low voice (in Db)" or "High voice (in Eb)", with Alto Flute Obbligato (transcribed) and Piano.
Alternative parts for Alto Flute Solo and Bb Clarinet Obbligato.
Program Notes by Peter H. Bloom.

Piano Scores, Voice Parts, Alto Flute Obbligato Parts, and alternative Alto Flute Solo Parts and Clarinet Obbligato Parts; PDF $8.99

Noteworthy Sheet Music was thrilled to publish our edition of Amy Marcy Cheney Beach's song Ecstasy in 2017, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. The idea to make Ecstasy available to a broader combination of players and singers came from flutist Peter H. Bloom, who proposed that the piece would be an excellent vehicle with which instructors might inform students (early and advanced alike) about interpretation of the highly romantic late 19th century idiom. To that end, we have packaged together in a single edition Mrs. H. H. A. Beach's two versions of Ecstasy, for "low voice (in Db)" and "high voice (in Eb)", with each version including transcriptions of the obbligato (originally for violin) for either alto flute in G or clarinet in Bb, and an alternative solo part in the form of an alto flute transcription of the voice line. Thus, multiple performance variations are possible, including high or low voice and piano with either alto flute or clarinet obbligato, or fully instrumental versions for alto flute and piano, or two alto flutes and piano, or alto flute, clarinet, and piano. 

Scores, 8 pages (4 pages each version); Voice parts, 2 pages (1 page each version); Alto Flute Obbligatos, 2 pages (1 page each version); Clarinet Obbligatos, 2 pages (1 page each version); Alto Flute solo parts, 2 pages (1 page each version); Total, 20 pages.

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Old Folks at Home and Oh! Susanna, by Stephen Foster

Arranged with Flute and Cello ad lib by John W. Pratt

Flute Parts, Cello Parts, Voice Parts, and Piano Scores ― PDF $7.99

The following excerpts are taken from John W. Pratt's foreword to the edition:
When a Golden Oldie comes to mind, Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
Comic, sad, or any kind, Oh!  Doo-dah-day!
Jeanie, Swanee, Kentucky, Joe,  Doo-dah!  Doo-dah!
Beautiful, dreamy, fast, or slow, Oh!  Doo-dah-day!
I'll bet I know who wrote it, he wrote them night and day,
Stephen Foster wrote it, he'll never go away.

Stephen Foster was born in Lawrenceville, Pa., on July 4, 1826...He wrote over 200 songs, including 135 parlor songs, 28 minstrel songs, and 21 hymns and Sunday school songs. A remarkable number are memorable, as the ditty above will attest to anyone with anything like my background. One wonders why. The harmonies and rhythms are basic, as are the forms and rhyme schemes (see above), the music is repetitious, and the vocal range rarely goes outside an octave (a great benefit for community singing). Yet the fit is so natural and the pacing so well judged that the songs are ideally effective and diabolically catchy. Foster is perhaps, though on a different plane, the Mozart of his field...

For a pianist playing several stanzas at a sing-along, Foster's songs do become a little dull. But their very simplicity, repetitiousness, and familiarity abet variation as, again on a different plane, chorales serve Bach chorale preludes. Like chorale preludes, the piano parts here always incorporate the melody, so they can be played solo or to accompany amateur singers. It struck me that they could be enhanced by optional flute parts. After writing them, I discovered that, according to his brother Morrison, Foster himself "delighted in playing accompaniments on the flute...As the song went on he would improvise...the most beautiful variations upon its musical theme." If Foster's improvisations were like the one his brother published, however, they just varied the melody itself in the manner of the period. My game is more ambitious, as you will easily see. I added optional cello parts, mostly for color, as in the Haydn trios but superficially more interesting for the cellist. (Again we are on a different plane, of course.)

"Oh! Susanna," one of the best-known American songs by anybody, is Foster's "Erlkönig." (Speak of different planes!) With its nonsensical lyrics and polka beat, it is clearly comical, and I treated it accordingly. It was written in Cincinnati, possibly for a social club, first performed at an ice cream saloon in Pittsburgh in 1847, and published in 1848. When no American song had sold over 5,000 copies, it sold over 100,000. It earned Foster only $100, but its popularity led to a publisher's offer, convincing him to become a professional songwriter, America's first.

"Old Folks at Home" established Foster as a truly American composer. It was written in 1851 for a blackface troupe whose leader paid Foster about $15 to be credited for it. When almost finished, Foster asked his brother for "a good name of two syllables for a Southern river." He rejected Yazoo and Pedee, but was delighted with Swanee, a shortening of Suwanee, a small river in Florida which his brother found in an atlas. Though about a slave's nostalgia for home, I find its theme universal and melancholy and I resisted the temptation to jazz it up. Please try, at least, a slowish tempo.

― John W. Pratt, May 27, 2013 ©

Flute parts, 2 pages; Cello parts, 2 pages; Voice parts, 2 pages; Scores, 7 pages; Total, 18 pages.

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Erlkönig, by Franz Schubert

Arranged for Cello (or Viola or Alto Flute) and Piano by John W. Pratt

Piano Score and Parts for Cello/Voice, Viola, and Alto Flute; PDF $11.99

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), inspired by reading Goethe's poem, wrote his song "Erlkönig" in a few hours in 1815. The song was an immediate hit, and continues to be popular to the present day. John Pratt has created a trio arrangement for flute, cello, and piano (click for more information), and also the duo version offered here with Schubert's solo voice part transposed for cello (or viola or alto flute), and with a less arduous alternative to Schubert's piano accompaniment.

Excerpted from Mr. Pratt's © preface:
"In the duo arrangement, Schubert's solo part is adopted without change. Thus the piano must provide the entire accompaniment, but rocking triplets and other pianistically felicitous passagework replace Schubert's unremitting repetition. The range of sonorities is also wider than Schubert's, though more restrained than that of the trio arrangement, where the flute enlarges the musical terrain. This accompaniment is offered as a less punishing alternative to Schubert's, to be played with a singer or any solo instrument. Solo parts are provided for voice or cello, viola, and alto flute."

Piano score, 6 pages; Cello, Viola, and Alto Flute parts, 2 pages each; Total, 22 pages.

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Sing-Along Materials, arranged by John W. Pratt

Piano Scores and Lyrics, Free Downloads

In an ongoing project with John Pratt, we are uploading a variety of free materials for community sing-alongs.  These include large-font lyrics sheets and piano scores with modifications or arrangements by Mr. Pratt.  Just click on the title links or download buttons to access the pdfs, free of charge.

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Netherlands folk song - We Gather Together 
We Gather Together    optional piccolo part

He has also made a version without octaves for two players at one piano.    We Gather Together, 4-hand version without octaves
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Tom Lehrer Songs

Tom Lehrer's satirical, iconoclastic songs are very special to his fans.  Some are suitable for group singing, and John Pratt has provided two free downloadable PDFs: his “Tom Lehrer Lyrics” booklet and his “Melodies and words to too few songs by Tom Lehrer” which includes melody lines as well as lyrics.  See booklet printing advice below, under Christmas Carols and Thanksgiving Songs.

Tom Lehrer Lyrics            Tom Lehrer Melodies

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Christmas Carols and Thanksgiving Songs

Large-font lyrics for Christmas carols and Thanksgiving songs [1] to [42]

Mr. Pratt has also created a booklet format for the large-font lyrics for holiday songs [1] to [42], called The NSM Carol Book, which is handy for group sing-alongs and is easily re-usable.  The booklets should be printed double-sided on 8.5" x 11" paper (or 9" x 12", if available), stapled in the middle and folded to form a 5.5" x 8.5" booklet.  Since printing directions will be different for every printer, we leave it to our visitors to know what settings to use on their own equipment to have all pages come out in order, right-side up, etc.  With my Canon ImageCLASS MF4890 machine, for example, I would do the following: print using fit to page, landscape orientation, 2-sided, flipping on short edge; then staple along the mid-line and fold down the center along the staples so that the Contents are on the front page.  Note that a long-arm stapler (reaching to 5.5") is required for manual stapling, but some institutions may have printer/copiers that can auto-staple along the mid-line.

For some of these traditional Christmas carols and Thanksgiving songs we also provide piano scores - most arranged or modified by John W. Pratt - for accompanists: 
[15] Good King Wenceslas[17] Hark! the herald angels sing   
[18] Here we come a-wassailing 
[19] The holly and the ivy [21] I saw three ships 
[23] Jingle bells 
[24] Lo, how a rose e'er blooming 
26] Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing 
[27] Now thank we all our God 
[30] O Holy Night![37] The twelve days of Christmas[40] We Three Kings of Orient Are
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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [43] to [67]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; click the link above and print as few or as many pages as you like:
[43]   My Old Kentucky Home
[44]   When you wore a tulip
[45]   Take me out to the Ball Game
[46]   Drink to me only with thine eyes
[47]   Oh, my darling Clementine
[48]   Comin’ thro’ the rye
[49]   Home on the Range
[50]   We are coming, Father Abraam
[51]   Marine’s Hymn
[52]   The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be
[53]   Abide with me
[54]   When Irish eyes are smiling
[55]   Arkansas Traveler
[56]   Aura Lee
[57]   The band played on
[58]   Battle Hymn of the Republic
[59]   Skye boat song
[60]   Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
[61]   The bear went over the mountain
[62]   Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
[63]   Bicycle built for two
[64]   Billy Boy
[65]   Go tell Aunt Rhody
[66]   All through the night
[67]   America

Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [43] to [67].This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [43], [44], [45], [50], [51], [52], [57], [60], [63], [64], [65],[66]; print as few or as many pages as you like.
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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [68] to [92]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; print as few or as many pages as you like:
[68]   Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here
[69]   Loch Lomond
[70]   On top of Old Smoky
[71]   Sweet Adeline
[72]   A Capital Ship
[73]   Beautiful Dreamer
[74]   Camptown races ditty
[75]   O dear, what can the matter be?
[76]   America the beautiful
[77]   The Bluebells Of Scotland
[78]   Go down, Moses
[79]   O Columbia! the gem of the ocean
[80]   Be prepared
[81]   Blow the Man Down
[82]   Blue-tail Fly
[83]   The Caissons go rolling along
[84]   Merry Widow Waltz
[85]   Ethernal Father, strong to save
[86]   Sailing, Sailing
[87]   For me and my gal
[88]   God is my strong salvation
[89]   Danny Boy
[90]   Alouette
[91]   April Showers
[92]   Auld Lang Syne
 
Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [68] to [92].This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [68], [69], [72], [73], [75], [76], [77], [78], [82], [83], [86], [87], [92]; print as few or as many pages as you like.

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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [93] to [113]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; print as few or as many pages as you like:
[93]   Oh! Susanna
[94]   The foggy, foggy dew
[95]   Down by the old mill stream
[96]   Fair are the meadows
[97]   My Bonnie lies over the ocean
[98]   Anchors aweigh
[99]   Darktown strutters’ ball
[100] Cockles and mussels
[101] The farmer in the dell
[102] Dixie
[103] Flow gently, sweet Afton
[104] Evening Prayer from “Hänsel & Gretel”
[105] She’ll be coming ‘round the mountain
[106] The Major-General’s song
[107] The Irish ballad
[108] Santa Lucia
[109] The old gray mare
[110] Red River valley
[111] Waltzing Matilda
[112] Semper Paratus
[113] Turn back, O man

Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [93] to [113].This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [93], [95], [96], [97], [98], [99], [100], [104], [106], [107], [108],[109], [111], [113]; print as few or as many pages as you like.

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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [114] to [131]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; print as few or as many pages as you like:
[114] Old Folks at Home
[115] Yankee Doodle
[116] Putting on the style
[117] Things are seldom what they seem
[118] Let me call you sweetheart
[119] Streets of Laredo
[120] Swing low, sweet chariot
[121] Onward, Christian soldiers
[122] Though dark are our sorrows (The Prince’s Day)
[123] Polly Wolly Doodle
[124] I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair
[125] Pack up your troubles
[126] Old Dan Tucker
[127] Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen
[128] Old MacDonald had a farm
[129] Missouri waltz
[130] Mary had a little lamb
[131] Now the Day is Over

Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [114] to [131].This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [114], [115], [116], [117], [118], [119], [121], [122], [123], [124], [125],[126], [127], [128], [129], [131]; print as few or as many pages as you like.

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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [132] to [152]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; print as few or as many pages as you like:
[132] The old oaken bucket
[133] Greensleeves
[134] Jerusalem
[135] The Wearing of the Green
[136] Shall we gather at the river
[137] Sweet Betsy from Pike
[138] When I was a lad
[139] When Johnny comes marching home again
[140] There’s a long, long trail
[141] Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing
[142] Would God I were the tender apple blossom
[143] Sing a song of sixpence
[144] Swanee
[145] Riddle song
[146] It’s a long way to Tipperary
[147] I had a little nut tree
[148] Old black Joe
[149] I’m called Little Buttercup
[150] The yellow rose of Texas
[151] Funiculì, funiculà
[152] Stars and stripes forever

Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [132] to [152].This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [132], [133], [134], [138], [140], [144], [148], [149], [150], [151]; print as few or as many pages as you like.

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Large-font Sing-Along Lyrics for Songs [153] to [181]
This single PDF contains lyrics for the following songs; print as few or as many pages as you like:
[153] Brahms cradle song
[154] The Campbells are coming
[155] For all the saints
[156] A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go
[157] From Greenland’s icy mountains
[158] Goodnight, Ladies
[159] Gwine to run all night; (De Camptown races)
[160] Here we go round the mulberry bush
[161] Home, sweet home
[162] In heavenly love abiding
[163] I’ve been working on the railroad
[164] Jack and Jill
[165] The jolly miller
[166] John Peel
[167] Joshua fought the Battle Of Jericho
[168] London Bridge is falling down
[169] Mademoiselle from Armentieres
[170] Marine’s Hymn
[171] Men of Harlech!
[172] Over there
[173] Pussy cat, pussy cat
[174] Rock-a-bye baby
[175] Shenandoah
[176] Short’nin’ bread
[177] The sidewalks of New York
[178] Pop! Goes the weasel
[179] There is a Tavern in the Town
[180] Tit willow
[181] Whoopee-Ti-Yi-Git Along Little Dogies

Piano Scores, either public domain or arrangements by John W. Pratt, for a subset of Songs [153] to [181].
This single PDF contains piano scores for the following songs [155], [157], [162], [167], [172], [175], [176], [179]; print as few or as many pages as you like.