HOME ON THE RANGE
for SAB with piano
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Available for SAB with piano
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Home On The Range
Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
How often at night when the heavens are bright,
With the light from the glittering stars,
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceeds that of ours.
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
~Dr. Brewster M. Higley 1870
Composer Notes:
In the Fall of 2013 I was commissioned by the North Central American Choral Directors Association to write a piece for their project, A Community that Sings: Volume Three. The piece was to be an American folk song accessible for choirs ranging from the youngest of choirs to the most experienced of choirs. As a composer I try to make all my pieces accessible to a wide range of performers, but the trick was making the piece interesting, meaningful and accessible enough for any choir at almost any skill level to perform.
During the fall of 2013 I had many thoughts and notions of being home sick as I began to realized that the sands of time of my childhood were slowly seeping through my fingers. The amount of time that I would be home with my parents would begin to be less and less; memories of playing games with my friends and family or going on trips were just that, memories; and eight hours a day, five days week until the day I die slowly became a reality. However, despite how depressing some of these thoughts were to me, I still found comfort in my memories. I found it especially interesting how real some of the smells, emotions, images and sights of some of my memories could be, especially the ones about home.
After thinking long and hard about the piece I wanted to do, I decided to do "Home On The Range." This piece brings back very real thoughts and memories of a location that is heart warming and fond to the performer. In this arrangement I wanted to bring back the smells, sights, and emotions of the range. The piece starts off with the piano imitating a soft breeze. Then from within the breeze, the song's melody, acting as the memory, comes in. Then throughout this piece I did my best to capture the expansiveness of this range, the rolling hills, the warm sensation of the memory and the star filled skies at night. I did my best to take a short memory and really make the performers live within a moment, just as most memories are. Then, just as the memory comes in on a breeze, the memory is gone with both the piano and voices acting as a breeze. Essentially, this four minute piece is supposed to live within the life span of a small breeze that brought back fond memories.
- Zachary J. Moore
About A Community that Sings: Volume Three"
Following the vision of former Wisconsin and North Central Division President, Kevin Meidl, NC-ACDA has found a way to make singing an indispensible part of the American experience with "A Community That Sings: Volume Three!" It provides excellent, royalty-free arrangements for members of ACDA and helps to bring songs back to our communities. Compiled by Kevin Meidl, the third in a series of songbooks created for members of North Cenetral ACDA will be premiered at the conference. Our great team of arrangers from across the contry will be in Des Moines to lead us through their newest creations...songs of our grandparents and great-grandparents now available to our teachers and conductors.
