QUALITY LITERATURE FOR CHURCH, SCHOOL, AND COMMUNITY
(Updated October 4, 2009)
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The Complete Works List
classified by type, voicing and season
Scores and Sound Files
select on-line resources
Repertoire Suggestions
for all liturgical seasons, or by scoring for mixed chorus,
a cappella choirs, SAB groups, treble voices and women's ensembles
Over 100 choral works published by: Mark Foster, Shawnee, Abingdon, Carl Fischer, Lawson-Gould, Music 70, H.W. Gray, CPP-Belwin, Warner-Chappell, Coronet, Tetra-Continuo, Concordia, Augsburg-Fortress, Harold Flammer, and Randall Egan.
Original compositions setting classic devotional poetry.
Arrangements of folksongs, spirituals, hymns, and carols.
Performing editions of secular and sacred Renaissance music.
Fine a cappella and accompanied works for SATB ensembles.
Expertly crafted music for SAB, SSAB, SSA, and SSAA voicing.
Specialties: music for volunteer and professional church choirs, collegiate groups, women's ensembles, the Middle and High School chorus, community chorales, and treble voices.
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"Thoburn has composed anthems for a variety of voice parts published by several different companies. You should carefully consider anything you see with his name on it." Dr. Robert P. Anderson in Worship Arts.
"Thoburn has created a beautiful setting of Wesley's immortal poem... offering a refreshingly different perspective that heightens the text's meaning... A wonderful piece to add to your church, community, or college choir's repertoire." J.D. Watson, Choral Journal review of "Christ is Arisen," German tune arr. for SATB (Augsburg-Fortress 11-10462) and SSAA (Lawson-Gould Music-70 551).
This "lyric arrangement of a traditional English folk song [is] well written,...easily accessible,... [has] a rich texture...[and] will appeal to a wide range of audiences. It will please both young and old." Ted Totorica, Choral Journal review of the SSA arangement, Scarborough Fair (Mark Foster 971 ).
"A choral arranger with a gift [has created] a miniature gem for SAB voices and organ. Serious repertoire for small church choir is sadly limited, and Thoburn is to be commended for making a notable contribution to it." J.D. Watson, Choral Journal review of the original compostion, Spirit of God, Descend (Mark Foster 2138 ).
"[This is a] good example of how one should edit classical masterworks for alternative performing forces. Editorial practices are clearly described, and when re-composition occurs, it remains true to the composer's original intent. I heartily recommend highly these two new editions." Sharon Hanson, Choral Journal review of Welcome Sweet Pleasure and "Flow Not So Fast, Ye Fountains," SSAB editions for youthful ensembles of Weelkes and Dowland, issued by CCP-Belwin (Warner-Chapell OCTO 2560 and 2258).
"This arrangement of a haunting, lyrical French melody... provides a meaningful Epiphany anthem. The tune itself is lovely, but the real beauty of the piece is in Thoburn's harmonization... Directors of small church choirs will find this an especially rewarding anthem." Corydon Carlson, Choral Journal review of "Adoration of the Wise Men" for SATB and kybd (Carl Fischer CM 8379).
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Just Out: The Starry Stranger, an original composition for SATB setting a mystical 17th century Christmas text by Richard Crashaw, Mark Foster (MFA0028); and Neath Starlit Skies, a charming old American text given a new original SATB setting, Abingdon Press (9780687646319).
Newly Published: A Psalm of Praise, a majestic original setting of a 17th century poem filled with glorious musical imagery, commissioned for SATB and organ and named a "top seller" in the Mark Foster Choral Series of Shawnee Press (MF 2184).
New for Christmas: "A Christmas Triptych," fresh original settings of fine medieval texts: the intriguing Adam lay y-bounden, the lovely I Sing of a Maiden, and the rousing When Christ Was Born of Mary Free; for SATB and published in the Mark Foster Choral Series by Shawnee Press (MF0600). A beautifully timeless 15th century Christmas lullaby newly arranged for women's voices and issued by Mark Foster (MF B0001), O Sing to the Babe.
Recent Christmas Releases: A striking contemporary SATB setting of a medieval text, Nowell, Out of Your Sleep, Arise! (Mark Foster 0588); a lilting Besancon carol arranged for accompanied SAB, with a refreshing original text, Good Shepherd on the Hill, (Carl Fischer CM8534); a joyfully syncopated composition for accompanied SATB sets a charming but little known Isaac Watts text Shepherds, Rejoice! (Carl Fischer CM8740).
Now Available: an SAB arrangement of a lovely Finnish melody set for general sacred use with a poem inspired by Psalm 23, In Heav'nly Love Abiding (Carl Fischer CM8582) ; and an accompanied SATB arrangement of a haunting Dutch melody appears newly paired with the W.C. Dix poem, Come unto me, in Mark Foster - Shawnee (MF2173) .
New for SSA: A lovely edition of Gregor Aichinger's ethereal motet Ave Regina Coelorum, in the Mark Foster catalog carried by Shawnee Press (MF0937). Also from Shawnee - Mark Foster, a strong, earthy arrangement of the popular English folk-song Scarborough Fair, (MF 97).
The Thoburn series A Cappella Classics for SAB continues with useful 3-part editions of Farrant's "Call to Remembrance" and "Verily, Verily I Say Unto You" by Thomas Tallis, in one Carl Fischer octavo (CM 8534); both works on one sound file.
Coming Soon: An SSA edition of the 13th Century English motet, "Alle, Psalite Cum Luya," to be included in the Mark Foster Choral Series of Shawnee Press.
Top of Page The arrangement O Sing to the Babe sung in the 50th Festival of Christmas at Bethel University, broadcast nationwide by PBS television.
An original composition for mixed voices and organ, A Psalm of Praise (Mark Foster 2184), selected for inclusion in the "Music in Worship Reading Session" of the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Los Angeles.
The entire cycle A Christmas Triptych recorded by an award-winning professional Canadian choir, Voices, on their first CD.
An edition for SSAA of Franz Schubert's Salve Regina, performed at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association by the Elektra Women's Choir of Vancouver, Canada (Lawson-Gould M70-653).
At the Chautauqua Institute in New York, an accompanied SATB arrangement of an American folkhymn, As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams, presented to a congregation of over 6,000 (Carl Fischer CM 8379).
A Lovely Rose is All My Song, an original composition for SATB, included in Advent and Christmas Eve services of the Metropolitan Church, Toronto, under the direction of Patricia Phillips-Wright, past president of the Royal College of Canadian Organists (Carl Fischer as CM 8281).
Welcome, All Wonders, an original accompanied composition for SATB, sung for Lessons & Carols and Advent IV services at St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville, Florida, under the direction of John Barry (Carl Fischer CM 8395).
On tour in France, an accompanied SAB arrangement of an American folkhymn,Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, performed by the San Diego Children's Choir (Carl Fischer CM 8421).
Accompanied SATB arrangement of the carol, My Dancing Day, sung at the Church of the Good Shepherd, New York City, under the direction of Arthur Lawrence, Past-Dean of the NYC chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and former associate editor of The American Organist (Coronet 392-41593).
The original composition "Bread of the World" (H.W. Gray 03606) sung in Sunday Services at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, by the Nassau Presbyterian Church Choir of Princeton, NJ.
Several works performed by Rochester's professional chamber choir Madrigalia, including those recorded on their on their CDs and broadcast on Public Radio International.
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Commissioned composition may be possible for special occasions.
Free examination copies of some pieces can be provided.
Legal permission may be obtained to xerox some out-of-print works.
For more information, contact Prof. Crawford R. Thoburn, Arts and Performance, Wells College, Aurora NY 13026.
With mergers and acquisitions, it's getting harder to find some publishers. (For instance, Shawnee recently purchased Mark Foster, and Warner-Chappel now owns Lawson-Gould, H.W. Gray, and CPP-Belwin.)
If you have no local music dealer to help you, you might try an internet distributor such as Sheet Music Plus or J.W. Pepper or Music 44.
For further assistance in obtaining choral music by Crawford R.Thoburn, leave a note in our Guest-Book.
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More than one hundred of Crawford R. Thoburn's choral compositions, arrangements, and editions have been published. Choirs across the U.S. and throughout the world sing his music, with performances recently noted in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, England, Germany, Austria, France, South Africa, Singapore, India, and Taiwan. Professional, church, and college groups record his works, which have been broadcast on National Public Radio and Public Radio International.
At Wells College in Aurora NY, Crawford R. Thoburn is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities. His student choral groups have won international awards in juried competition, performed by invitation at ACDA conventions and MENC meetings, toured in the U.S. and Europe, performed with many other college groups, and sung with professional orchestras. He has conducted numerous inter-collegiate choral collaborations, and enjoys a national reputation for expertise in women's choral literature and performance.
Professor Thoburn has a B.A. from Allegheny College, where he studied theory, arranging, and conducting with Morten J. Luvaas. In 1999, the Allegheny Alumni Association selected him to receive its prestigious Gold Citation, "in recognition and appreciation of the honor reflected upon the college by virtue of his professional achievements."
At Boston University, Professor Thoburn received an M.M. and worked as an assistant to his instructor in voice and conducting, Allen C. Lannom.
He later studied choral and orchestral conducting with Otto-Werner Mueller, Margaret Hillis, and Robert Shaw. While on a year-long sabbatical leave, he was a member of and soloist with the St. Martin Singers of London, England, under the direction of W. D. Kennedy-Bell.
Crawford served on the first National Committee on Editorial Standards of the American Choral Directors Association. His scholarly articles have appeared in the American Choral Review, Wells College Express and the Choral Journal, where he headed the Choral Review Department for five years.
At Wells, Professor Thoburn chaired the Music Department, the Division of the Arts, the Centennial Committee, the New Arts Facilities Committee, the Summer College Program, and the Faculty Advisory Committee, and he was named the first Campbell Professor of the Arts. He was profiled recently in the 59th edition of the original Marquis biographical directory Who's Who In America, included among the country's 100,000 most accomplished men and women from all fields of endeavor.
Crawford has many years of experience as a music director for Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian congregations.
(Photos: Crawford and his Wells Chamber Singers at the International Youth Music Festival in Bad Aarolsen, Germany; and members of the newly co-ed Wells College Concert Choir with their conductor.)
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