The Recovering Choir Director

Last weekend the angel of musical invention paid me a rare visit. Even rarer, the visit was of considerable length. What resulted was the very first original composition that I can truly say I’m proud of composing: a four-voice setting of the Good Friday antiphon Crucem tuam [ gif | mp3 ], with fauxbourdon verse, that can be transposed for SATB, AATB, and ATTB choirs. A noteworthy characteristic of the piece is that the original Gregorian chant melody is used in its entirety, with rhythmic alterations and one tiny melodic change.

Here is a sample mp3 to whet your appetite. (Note: the mp3 lacks a repeat of the antiphon.)

I will be the first to tell you that I’m not exactly a bastion of originality (yet?) and that the composition is very much influenced by Renaissance polyphony. In fact, if one were to say it could have originated from a specific time within the Renaissance, I’d actually consider it a compliment.

While offering your input based on the MIDI file, a question I’d like readers to answer:

Right now on an unannotated draft arrangement I request people to contact me for copyright information. Should I retain copyright to this composition and try to have it published by a publishing house; should I retain copyright and self-publish; should I release it to the public domain as a gift to the royal priesthood of believers (knowing, of course, that the royal priesthood of believers doesn’t know it wanted this piece); or something else entirely? What would you do, and why? I have my own leanings, but I’ll let you know about those in a future post.

If interested, feel free to e-mail me for an SATB copy of the draft.

(Credit to Francis Koerber for converting the original MIDI to MP3. Visit his website—he’s a much more prolific composer than I.)