Choral composition and arrangements of mine.

Choral Music

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/wade-in-the-water/

Laudate Dominum
February 23, 2014, St. Anne Church, Bethlehem

Traditional African American spiritual

Text

Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

See that band all dressed in white?
The leader looks like an Israelite.
See that band all dressed in red?
It looks like the band that Moses led.

Jordan’s waters are chilly and cold.
It chills the body but not the soul.
Jordan’s waters are deep and wide.
I’ll meet my friends on the other side.

Get the sheet music

Wade In The Water - arr. Casey Rule - performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/steal-away/

Laudate Dominum
February 23, 2014, St. Anne Church, Bethlehem

Text

Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

My Lord, He calls me,
He calls me by the thunder;
The trumpet sounds within my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

Green trees are bending,
Poor sinners stand a-trembling;
The trumpet sounds within my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

Steal Away - arr. Casey Rule - performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/ave-maria/

Commissioned by Samuel and Jane Errera for The Reverend Richard W. James on the occasion of his ordination to the Catholic priesthood, June 2, 2012

Text

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Ave Maria - Casey Rule - performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club

"A Dream"
by Casey Rule
text by William Blake
performed by the Juniata College Concert Choir


Get the sheet music here: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/a-dream


from "Night"

The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.

"A Dream"

Once a dream did weave a shade
O'er my angel-guarded bed,
That an emmet lost its way
Where on grass methought I lay.

Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
Over many a tangle spray,
All heart-broke, I heard her say:

'Oh my children! do they cry,
Do they hear their father sigh?
Now they look abroad to see,
Now return and weep for me.'

Pitying, I dropped a tear:
But I saw a glow-worm near,
Who replied, 'What wailing wight
Calls the watchman of the night?

'I am set to light the ground,
While the beetle goes his round:
Follow now the beetle's hum;
Little wanderer, hie thee home!'

A Dream - performed by the Juniata College Concert Choir

"Danny Boy"
Traditional Irish air, arranged by Casey Rule
performed by the Juniata College Concert Choir

Get the sheet music here: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/danny-boy/


Text:

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flow'rs are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
I pray you'll find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warm and sweeter be
And then you'll kneel and whisper that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.


http://www.caseyrule.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/CaseyRuleMusic

Danny Boy - performed by the Juniata College Concert Choir

Winning piece for the Ithaca College Thirty-Sixth Annual Choral Composition Contest, and The Robert Campbell ’40, M.S. ’50, Endowed Choral Composition Prize

Sheet music available at: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/berakhot/

Berakhot (ברכות ) is the Hebrew word for “blessing,” and the text for this piece is that of a blessing that appears in the Berakhot Tractate of the Babylonian Talmud.  According to the Tractate, this blessing was spoken by the third century Rabbi Ammi in Tiberias.

Note: This piece can be performed with either piano or harp accompaniment.  The piece was originally written for choir and harp.

Romanized Hebrew pronunciation tips:

“ei” is pronounced like “ay” in “say”, ([εi] in IPA)
“ay” or “ai” is pronouced like “y” in “fly” ([ai] in IPA)
an apostrophe with no vowel indicates an unaccented schwa like the “a” in about ([ə] in IPA)
“ch” is that iconic Hebrew guttural sound, like the “ch” in “chutzpah” ([x] in IPA)
Text

from Talmud Bavli, Tractate Berakhot 17a

Olamcha tireh v’chayecha
V’acharitcha l’chayay haOlam haBa
V’tikvat’cha l’dor dorim
Lib’cha yehge t’vunah
Picha y’daber chachmot
U’lshoncha yarchish r’nanot
Af’apecha yaishiru negdecha
Einecha ya’iru b’me’or Torah
U’fanecha yazhiru k’zohar harakiya
Siftotecha yabiu da’at
V’chliyotecha ta’alozna meisharim
U’fe’amecha yarutzu lishmoa
Divrei Atik Yomin

Translation

May you live to see your world in your lifetime*
May your end be for the life of the world to come
And your hope from generation to generation
May your heart conceive understanding
May you mouth speak wisdom
And may your tongue bring forth song
May your eyelids look straight before you
May your eyes shine in the light of the Torah
And may your face shine like the brightness of the heavens
May your lips express knowledge
And may you rejoice in righteousness**
And may your feet run to hear
The words of the Ancient of Days***

* Or, “may you live to see your world fulfilled”
** Literally: “may your kidneys rejoice in righteousness”
The kidneys were believed to be the emotional center of the body, with a similar metaphorical significance as we give the heart.
*** “Atik Yomin” is an Aramaic title for God meaning “Ancient of Days”

Berakhot - performed by the Ithaca High School Concert Choir

arr. Casey Rule
performed by Dolce, the Lehigh University Women's Choir
Sheet music available at: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/i-saw-three-ships/

I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three?
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And what was in those ships all three?
On Christmas day in the morning.

Our Saviour Christ and his lady
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Our Saviour Christ and his lady,
On Christmas day in the morning.

Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
On Christmas day in the morning.

Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the choirs in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the choirs in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice, amain,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Then let us all rejoice, amain,

I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)- the Lehigh University Women's Choir

arr. Casey Rule
performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club
Sheet music available at: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/huron-carol-iesus-ahattonnia/

Ehstehn yayau deh tsaun we yisus ahattonnia
O na wateh wado:kwi nonnwa ‘ndasqua entai
ehnau sherskwa trivota nonnwa ‘ndi yaun rashata
Iesus Ahattonnia.

‘Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
Iesus Ahattonnia.

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp’d His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high…
Iesus Ahattonnia.

The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory
On the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Iesus Ahattonnia.

O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Iesus Ahattonnia.

Huron Carol (Iesus Ahattonnia) - the Lehigh University Glee Club

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/boars-head-carol/

The boar’s head in hand bear I
Bedeck’d with bays and rosemary.
And I pray you, my masters, be merry
Quot estis in convivio

Caput apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino

The boar’s head, as I understand,
Is the rarest dish in all this land,
Which thus bedeck’d with a gay garland
Let us servire cantico.

Our steward hath provided this
In honor of the King of Bliss;
Which on this day to be served is
In Reginesi atrio.

The Boar's Head Carol - for SATB Choir

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/i-saw-three-ships/

I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three?
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And what was in those ships all three?
On Christmas day in the morning.

Our Saviour Christ and his lady
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Our Saviour Christ and his lady,
On Christmas day in the morning.

Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Pray whither sailed those ships all three?
On Christmas day in the morning.

Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Oh, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas day in the morning.

And all the choirs in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
And all the choirs in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice, amain,
On Christmas day, on Christmas day,
Then let us all rejoice, amain,
On Christmas day in the morning.

I Saw Three (Ships Come Sailing In) - for SSAA Choir

Get the sheet music: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/huron-carol-iesus-ahattonnia/

Ehstehn yayau deh tsaun we yisus ahattonnia
O na wateh wado:kwi nonnwa ‘ndasqua entai
ehnau sherskwa trivota nonnwa ‘ndi yaun rashata
Iesus Ahattonnia.

‘Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
Iesus Ahattonnia.

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp’d His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high…
Iesus Ahattonnia.

The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory
On the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Iesus Ahattonnia.

O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Iesus Ahattonnia.

Huron Carol (Iesus Ahattonnia)- for TTBB Choir

Performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club
"The Best of All Possible Worlds", March 22nd, 2014
Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University


King Jesus lit de candle by de waterside.
To see de little chil’en when dey truly baptize.
Honor, honor unto de Dyin’ Lamb!

Oh, run along chil’en an’ be baptize,
Mighty pretty meetin’ by de waterside.
Honor, honor unto de Dyin’ Lamb!

I prayed all day, I prayed all night,
My head got sprinkled with de midnight dew.
Honor, honor unto de Dyin’ Lamb!

Three Spirituals: III. Honor Honor - for TTBB choir

Performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club
"The Best of All Possible Worlds", March 22nd, 2014
Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University


Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

My Lord, He calls me,
He calls me by the thunder;
The trumpet sounds within my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

Green trees are bending,
Poor sinners stand a-trembling;
The trumpet sounds within my soul,
I ain’t got long to stay here.

Three Spirituals: II. Steal Away - for TTBB choir

Performed by the Lehigh University Glee Club
"The Best of All Possible Worlds", March 22nd, 2014
Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University


Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.

See that band all dressed in white?
The leader looks like an Israelite.
See that band all dressed in red?
It looks like the band that Moses led.

Jordan's waters are chilly and cold.
It chills the body but not the soul.
Jordan's waters are deep and wide.
I'll meet my friends on the other side.

Three Spirituals: I. Wade In The Water - for TTBB choir

Winner of the 2014 ACDA-PA Choral Composition Contest

Get the sheet music: www.caseyrule.com/music/works/draw-on-sweet-night/

performed by the Penn State Glee Club
Dr. Christopher Kiver, director
Saturday, November 8th, 2014
Eisenhower Auditorium, Penn State Center for the Performing 

Text:

Draw on, Sweet Night, friend unto those cares
That do arise from painful melancholy.
My life so ill through want of comfort fares,
that unto thee I consecrate it wholly.
Sweet Night, draw on
My griefs when they be told to shades
and darkness find some ease from paining,
And while thou all in silence dost enfold,
I then shall have best time for my complaining.

"Draw On, Sweet Night" - performed by the Penn State Glee Club

Text by William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)
Performed by Matthew Curtis

This piece is a setting of the famed Victorian poem of the same name by William Ernest Henley. Henley grew up in poverty, the son of a stuggling bookseller who died when Henley was a teenager. As a child, Henley was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone which necessitated an amputation of one of his legs. Later, in his twenties, Henley was told he would have to lose the other leg as well, but instead sought an alternative treatment. Over the course of the next few years, Henley was treated at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he began to write poetry, including this then-untitled poem. Decades later, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, when including it in his Oxford Book of English Verse, would title the poem “Invictus”, which in Latin means “unconquered”.

Text

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

– William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

"Invictus" for SSAATTBB choir - Casey Rule

http://notenova.com/catalog/work/a-dream/

by Casey Rule
performed by  Matthew Curtis

Text by William Blake

from “Night”

The sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.

“A Dream”

Once a dream did weave a shade
O’er my angel-guarded bed,
That an emmet lost its way
Where on grass methought I lay.

Troubled, wildered, and forlorn,
Dark, benighted, travel-worn,
Over many a tangle spray,
All heart-broke, I heard her say:

‘Oh my children! do they cry,
Do they hear their father sigh?
Now they look abroad to see,
Now return and weep for me.’

Pitying, I dropped a tear:
But I saw a glow-worm near,
Who replied, ‘What wailing wight
Calls the watchman of the night?

‘I am set to light the ground,
While the beetle goes his round:
Follow now the beetle’s hum;
Little wanderer, hie thee home!’

"A Dream" for TTBB choir - Casey Rule

http://notenova.com/catalog/work/danny-boy/

The exact original meaning behind the text of Danny Boy is unknown, but one of the most popular interpretations is that it is told from the perspective of a father saying a final goodbye to his son before he is sent off to war or leaves for another country.   Throughout the last century, this text resonated particularly powerfully with Irish immigrants to America, many of whom left family and friends in Ireland, not knowing if they would ever see them again.

While the iconic Danny Boy is most commonly associated with Ireland, the text was actually written in 1910 by the English Frederic Weatherly, a lawyer and prolific lyricist.   After being set in 1913 to the tune of the Londonderry Air, a melody originating in Northern Ireland, the song became enormously popular, and has since become somewhat of an unofficial anthem of the Irish diaspora, particularly in North America.

Text

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying
‘Tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

 

And if you come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warm and sweeter be.
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

"Danny Boy" for SATB choir - arr. Casey Rule

The Princeton Singers
Double Your Pleasure
Princeton University Art Museum
Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 5:30 and 8:00PM

Moon, worn thin to the width of a quill,
     In the dawn clouds flying,  
   How good to go, light into light, and still   
     Giving light, dying.

– Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

Moon's Ending SSAATTBB choir - Casey Rule

Published on Apr 18, 2012
"Am I Born to Die?" (Idumea/Amazing Grace)
by Casey Rule
performed by The Lehigh University Choir
"Voices of Mystery", March 2012
http://lehighchoralarts.com/

Get the sheetmusic at: http://www.caseyrule.com/music/works/and-am-i-born-to-die/

Music:
Traditional American Folk Hymns from "The Sacred Harp"
"Idumea" - Ananias Davisson, 1816
"New Britain" - Columbian Harmony, 1829
for SSAATTBB choir, cello, and handbells

Texts:
"And Am I Born to Die" - Charles Wesley, 1763
"Amazing Grace" - John Newton, 1779