|
/ Hathaway Weblog / Sally DeFord Music |
My stake has a music library. (A stake is a group of a few thousand members of the Church in a city or neighborhood.) The library combines the music from all the wards in our stake. (A ward is a group that meets together on Sunday.) The library allows all the ward choir directors to draw from a common pool of music.
The library seems like a fine way to increase the music selection for all the wards, but the problem is the library is locked up most of the time. I can make an appointment with the librarian, but I can't help but feel like I'm interrupting her life during the appointment. I'd like to get to know the music that's there, bring a keyboard to try out some of the songs, and browse the library for a few hours, but instead, I make a hasty decision and go home within 30 minutes. Thus the stake music library is actually quite hard for me to use.
How excited I was, then, to discover Sally DeFord Music through a link from Phil Windley. She composes songs appropriate for ward choirs and releases it for free. In chorus with Phil, may I just say thanks to Sally, who has solved a big problem. I haven't used the music yet, but I intend to use it right away.
Comments
Our ward choir is singing one of her tunes, "Because He Lives", and it's great. Not only is it free music, but it's good quality too. What an unusual combination!
My only complaint would be that most of the music is written for large choirs. I'd like some songs written for smaller (2-4 people) groups. But hey, beggars can't be choosers.
As someone who is LDS and a composer (and a Zope/Python head, - I came here to get a copy of CookieCrumbler) I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Ms. DeFord gets a lot air play because she puts it out there free of charge. This comes at a cost of other good music being ignored. It also doesn't do much for the profession of composing - it drives composer's already paltry income down further.
That said, I've thought of doing the same thing myself. I have a small library of original music that mostly collects dust because I don't have time to market it and get it out there. If I'm not going to make any money I might as well put it out there so folks can perform it.
BTW, someone in our Stake took the time to carefully catalog the entire library. It saves considerable time browsing in the library.
I can understand the feeling that free sheet music makes it hard for others to make money, but I would argue that free music is an important expression of a free market. Now that some free music is available, composers who wish to sell sheet music for money have to produce music that is significantly better than what's available for free. Thus the competition is tougher than ever, and the competition will lead to better music all around. I would also argue that composers who produce better music will make more money than they ever have before. This is what is happening in the software world; why not the music world also?
We also have a list of music that's available in the library, but the list does nothing for me, since it shows little more than the title of the music and the number of voices. I need to see the entire sheet music before I can judge it.
I met the grandson of Sister McMaster once. She was the sister that wrote "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" that is a standard for the Primary Children. In "her day" Sister McMaster was "called" (as in a calling) to write music for the Primary Children, etc. She didn't have (nor would she have taken) the opportunity to benefit monetarily from her publishings. I am sure her blessings were enough. Having said that, while I don't think that it's necessary to give everything away, there are those who do offer what they have for the "building up of the Kingdom of God". I'm grateful to Craig Petrie, Sally DeFord and others who provide their talents so that we might all benefit. I know they will get their reward.
Thanks, Tommie, for emphasizing the spiritual aspects. They are certainly more important than the music market.
That makes me wonder what ever happened to "public domain" music. It seems that the world has become so commercial that there's no room for doing something just for the good of the community. Now things have to be copyrighted anyway for fear that someone will come along and take it and copyright it. I'm always impressed with those who offer their talents for free. I can understand the need to make money, and making money off music makes it more possible to write more music, but it's refreshing to ocassionally find someone who offers something for free.
If you're looking for additional high quality LDS arrangements (and originals) see Michelle Willis' web site at www.tetonmusic.com/ldscatalog
Hi, I was wondering if you have the music sheet with notes on it and if you have the song of I will stand as a witness of christ. And do you have it in the enture net.
...Annice McBride....
Annice, I assume that question is intended for Sally. Please see her contact page:
I Will Stand as a Witness of Christ is available on Sally's site: http://www.defordmusic.com/iwillstandasawitnessofchrist.pdf Solo, Unison or 2 parts women's choir.
