My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

Choosing Favorites

9/26/2024

When I am asked to choose a few favorites from the choral pieces that I have composed, I have a hard time. How do you choose a favorite child? But I can say that it helps when other people have told me their favorites of my work. So, here are a few from that short list:

"Forget me Not, O Lord" came about because the head of the Birthday Committee in the Tabernacle Choir asked me to write a couple of pieces to record on a CD to give to then President Dieter F. Uchtdorf for his birthday in November 2011. (27 choir members recorded it for the CD) He was pleased and asked me and my husband to come to his office to tell me so personally. He had just delivered his talk by that title at the Women's session of General Conference a few weeks earlier.

"My Promised Land" was written to celebrate my father's 80th Birthday during the 4th of July holidays one year. My extended family as well as my dad loved singing this meaningful patriotic song (especially my alto sister Barbara who always asks me to write low "money" notes for her).

"Come Unto Him" was written for no particular reason beyond needing something new for my Ward Choir to sing. They liked challenge pieces, and I had some very talented singers. Besides, I was inspired by my Stake President's talk on that text from Matthew 11:28-29.

"Glory to God on High" - I can't remember now if I wrote this first as a solo or as a choral. In either case, it is just fun to sing.

"A Christmas Carol" - I actually wrote this in college back when the movie "Scrooge" was fairly new. Being a high soprano, I really wanted the opportunity to sing the fun obligato in the last verse. So, I wrote this medley pairing it with "Deck the Halls." It was first performed by my little brother's high school a cappella choir that Christmas. Our family loved singing it, too, through the years.

"On a Sacred, Still and Silent Night" is my all-time-quickest-to-write song. It went from an idea while I was sitting at a stoplight on a dreary winter day to three hours later being rehearsed by some of my college kids home for the holidays to sing in Church the next day. Our family and a couple friends' families did a Christmas concert at the Washington D. C. Temple Visitor's Center every year for five years. We often used this song with my son playing guitar, a friend on violin, and a lovely lyrical dancer. In 2020 during COVID, our extended family created a music video of this song with our grandkids acting out a Nativity Pageant. I guess this has to be my personal favorite.

Singing at the Drop of a Hat

8/3/2024

A small group of current and former members of the Tabernacle Choir gathered to sing for our friend's father's funeral on Friday. He died suddenly and our friend was in need of comfort and support. Most of us feel this kind of service as an important extended part of our calling as Tabernacle Choir members. Some singers who came had no real ties beyond being current or former choir members. They just recognized a need of one of our own. We'll always be family.

It is such an honor for us to sing together. The song we sang for the funeral was "It is Well with My Soul" arranged by Mack Wilberg. It speaks such comforting words and was perfect in this situation. The current choir members had it memorized and the former members were experienced sight-singers, so we were able to pull together a good performance with just a couple of times singing it through. It was so nice conducting a group that knew how to blend and were willing to sing different parts if necessary for balance.

I have also been the beneficiary of this "go to the aid" attitude. In 2011, I was given an assignment to write two special songs to be recorded and given to then President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in his Birthday gift basket from the Choir.

With barely any notice, 27 members of the Choir responded to come make a CD recording of "We are His Hands" SSA and "Forget Me Not, O Lord" SATB with texts taken from two famous Pres. Uchtdorf's talks.

Writing "Forget Me Not, O Lord" came quickly. I had been to the Women's Broadcast where it was delivered just a few days earlier, and already had some ideas of how to put his words to music. The German folktale Pres. Uchtdorf based his talk on was so very tender and poetic.

I felt that the song needed three verses. The first, sung by the sopranos, would be from the perspective of the tiny flower. The second, sung by the altos, would be from the perspective of a woman. And the third, sung by the men, would be from the perspective of our loving Heavenly Father. At the end, all of the individual parts would be sung together.

The wonderful singers from the Tabernacle Choir were delightfully skilled at sight-singing and blending! We spent just a few minutes learning the new song, and then recorded it. Oh, that every choir I directed had such beautiful voices and talented singers!

These words sum up how we should never forget each other, just as Heavenly Father and our Savior will never forget us.

Like the little flower, you think you are alone,
So lost and insignificant and slight.
Our Father knows your needs, each child is loved and known.
His precious children are the source of His delight.
You are known.
You are loved.
Though you at times may feel so small,
He'll ease your pains.
He'll dry your tears
And give you power to fill the measure of your being.

Sometimes we just need to drop everything and come to lend our voices to comfort and bless each other, especially one of our own.

The Prophet Alma's Desires

7/9/2024

We are studying Alma 23-29 in our Come Follow Me lessons this week. This made me think of setting the Prophet Alma's words to music. This is from a previous blog post:

If I ever need a text to use for composing a sacred song, I usually look through Alma's writings in the Book of Mormon. He has so many beautiful and powerful sermons and uses such poetic language -- surviving even when translated into English. One of my favorite texts comes from Alma 29:29.

The prophet Alma is recounting how he wishes he had the voice of an angel to cry repentance to all people. He would shout repentance with a powerful voice so loud that it would shake the whole earth. That way, people would surely get the message and indeed repent. But no, that cannot be. Each person has agency to choose to repent and follow Christ, or not. Still, he thinks that being an instrument in bringing even one soul unto God is the greatest blessing ever.

I was privileged to write the solo version of this text for a vocal student of mine who was leaving soon to fill his mission in Thailand. He had a powerful, heroic tenor voice that really suited the music. He sang it beautifully for his farewell.

The format of the song is a rondo -- the refrain repeats after each contrasting section. Each adventure away from the refrain is unique and carries its own special message and music. Each return to the refrain connects the parts together and unifies the whole.

Not long after I wrote this solo piece, a baritone friend of mine wanted me to adapt it as a duet for us to sing together -- Soprano and Baritone. I did and we premiered it at a Stake Conference meeting. I am just sorry that we never recorded it.

The solo "O That I Were an Angel" is in a collection of Sacred Songs and Hymn Arrangements "The Praiseworthy Singer" Volume 14.

"O That I Were and Angel" Sacred Duet for Soprano and Baritone is available for digital download.

The Composer's Tool Belt

6/3/2024

What sets apart a piece written by an accomplished composer as opposed to a song written by an amateur?

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of beautiful, poignant songs written by amateurs. They may have the most wonderful marriage of words and melody and show that they were written under inspiration, but they still may be short, sweet, and rather simple.

Take hymns as an example. Some older hymns enjoyed a heyday when they were sung regularly and then fell out of favor. But then, a couple of generations later, they are arranged by a talented composer, sung by a famous choir, and suddenly they get a whole new life. Think about "Come Thou Fount" that used to be in the LDS Hymnal, then was removed from the 1985 hymnal because it had fallen out of favor, and now it has been reinstated in the LDS hymnody.

Very likely, people who listened to the Tabernacle Choir sing it, or who got to sing it in large University choirs or community Master Chorales had a spiritual experience with it. Honestly, who couldn't?

I noticed that the new version just released by the LDS Church has a few of the Mack Wilberg chord substitutions and changes in harmony. I guess the powers that be decided that people really only want to sing the Wilberg arrangement. So maybe these changes are somewhat of an appeasement.

Composers use changes in harmony, and sometimes melody, and use chord substitutions all the time. They have many tools in their tool belts. They may MODULATE through different keys. They may add ORCHESTRATION or different CHORAL VOICINGS to add variety. They may spend many measures in melodic and harmonic DEVELOPMENT. But one tool that is maybe more sophisticated than the others is when they change up the RHYTHM.

Changing the RHYTHM could be giving the song a different BEAT such as using drums for a Latin flavor or other dance-like rhythms in the melody or accompaniment. Then, they could also change up the TIME SIGNATURES. For example, a normal 4/4 hymn could really take on a different flavor by chopping off an eight note in the measures making it 7/8. Just that counting adjustment gives a straight forward hymn formerly in 4 counts a lifting flavor.

Here's one of my arrangements that I thought would be interesting to change up the RHYTHM. In my mind, it gives even more power to an already powerful text about FAMILIES.

"From Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise" SATB

Setting a Book of Mormon Text

5/24/2024

Setting scriptural texts to music isn't easy. Just by the nature of prose, rhyme schemes, regular meter plans, and venerable musical forms mostly cannot be used. Sometimes a composer can make use of short phrases repeating over and over again to provide meter, pattern, and rhyme. Think of Handel writing many of the choruses in "Messiah." He took one or two phrases or even one word and took 5-10 minutes musically expanding them. Think "Hallelujah" or "For Unto Us a Child Is Born."

We don't normally do Baroque stylization in our day. Occasionally though, for emphasis, a composer can get away with phrase repetitions. I find that PHRASE REPETITION is a great way to set scriptural texts. Repeating a phrase of words set to a melodic passage that can be developed is a way to provide pleasing musical structure as well as patterns and rhyme schemes listeners can appreciate.

A few years ago, my friend (Barbara Cramer) asked me to create a song for her to sing using an ancient form of Hebraic poetry. Her brother (John W. Welch) was being honored for finding Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon in 1967. There was a "Chiasmus Jubilee" (50 year anniversary) held at BYU in 2017 where she sang this song.

Chiasmus is a form of Hebraic poetry where the concepts reflect back in contrast to the previous ideas but in reverse order with the climax or most important concept in the center. So, I tried to play around with themes and tonalities that would reflect these contrasts -- darkness turning to light, sin to forgiveness, pain to joy -- going from minor to major and so forth. So, as the text reflected back to a previous thought, I tried to make the musical theme relate back as well, but brighter and more hopeful.

The text is taken from Alma 36 where Alma is telling about his conversion. First, Alma recognizes his sins, he feels exquisite pain and guilt. Then the central and most important part of the song is about his turning to Christ, forsaking his sins, and relying on the Atonement. Then, he tells of his feeling great joy and relief through repentance. He is changed and he then wants to share his joy by preaching of Christ.

The song is titled "How Exquisite Was My Joy."

The only way I could make my setting of this scriptural text work is with using phrase repetitions. This helped with meter and structure as well has providing singable melodic ideas.

Other composers feel very strongly that scriptural verses should be set strictly as they are laid out in the book. As a singer, I find those so hard to sing. I enjoy having notes that soar and phrases that can be repeated to provide some pattern and rhyme. To me, that's much more fulfilling.

Kirtland Temple Dedicatory Prayer Choral

4/8/2024

With all of the excitement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints purchasing the Kirtland Temple, it reminded me of when I was inspired to write a choral piece based on the words of that Temple's dedicatory prayer. The words given to Joseph Smith by revelation in Doctrine and Covenants 109:8 are powerful:

8 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

The choral piece "Dedication" not only applies to the dedication of a Temple or a Church building, but how to establish a home. We can dedicate our lives in the Lord's service by preparation through prayer, fasting, faith and gospel learning.

What I heard a lot of in General Conference was how we should try to serve more in the Temple and participate in gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. My ears perked up when President Russel M. Nelson quoted these verses.

When my Ward Choir sang this song for the first time, they thanked me for helping them internalize the message in this scripture. The melody and setting helped them remember the words and to be more dedicated to service in their lives.

Choral Piece for Spring

3/1/2024

So many Ward Choirs seem not to be fully functioning these days. Convincing singers to support Ward choir has always been difficult but with all of the changes that have happened in the past few years -- a new Church schedule, a change in focus to "home-based Church supported," as well as coming back from the isolation of the COVID pandemic -- keeping a Ward Choir going year round is even more difficult now.

Here is an interesting memory from a March 2018 post:

As I was scrolling through Facebook today, I came across a post asking Ward Choir Directors what songs they would be singing in the next few months. As a composer, I am always interested in what songs directors choose in different seasons. I am also curious about how many rehearsals they plan for the choir to learn them. Christmas season is pretty predictable. They choose mostly Christmas carols and arrangements and start preparing in October for the Christmas program. Easter changes dates each year, so the preparation time really varies. Patriotic services and Pioneer Day observances happen, but are not nearly as regularly programmed. Other than those seasonal celebrations, the themes for songs mostly center around Christ, as well they should.

So, as I was reading, I was caught off guard by a director who posted that her choir was learning "Forget Me Not, O Lord," and she had seed packets for the choir members to help them create a memory with the song. What a wonderful idea! Such a "spring" thing to do!

Ellis and Betsy Bailey with President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in his office in November 2011.

It was such a thrilling experience to create this song. I was asked to take the words from then President Uchtdorf's talk (newly delivered at the Women's Broadcast in September 2011) and create a piece to be included in the birthday gift basket from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in November (just a few weeks away). When the song was finished, we gathered some 27 singers from the choir to record it. I felt that the song needed three verses. The first, sung by the sopranos, would be from the perspective of the tiny flower. The second, sung by the altos, would be from the perspective of a woman. And the third, sung by the men, would be from the perspective of our loving Heavenly Father. At the end, all of the individual parts would be sung together. The wonderful singers from the MoTab were so skilled at sight-singing and blending! We spent just a few minutes learning the song, and then recorded it. Oh, that every choir I directed had such beautiful and talented singers!

I am so pleased that "Forget Me Not, O Lord" will be performed next month. President Uchtdorf was so pleased when he heard it on the CD that he asked me and my husband to come visit with him so that he could thank me in person. He hoped that the song would be sung throughout the Church for many years to come. That message was so very special to him.

I hoped so, too.

Like the little flower, you think you are alone,
So lost and insignificant and slight.
Our Father knows your needs, each child is loved and known.
His precious children are the source of His delight.
You are known.
You are loved.
Though you at times may feel so small,
He'll ease your pains.
He'll dry your tears
And give you power to fill the measure of your being.

Playing By Ear

2/23/2024

Dad had the Easy Listening Radio station on while he and Mom were trying to go to sleep one night. Finally my mother asked if he could listen to something else... perhaps an all-talk station? She explained that hearing the music compelled her to analyze the chords in every song. That made it hard for her to get to sleep.

My mother was a terrific accompanist. She had a special gift. She could play by ear. That means she could remember the chord progressions to many songs and just make up the piano part on the spot.

When she was busy accompanying Handel's "Messiah" with a community choir in Ohio in about 1972, she slid down our icy walkway on the way to the performance. She broke three fingers on her left hand. She had my dad tape up those fingers, took an aspirin, then she got in the car saying, "The show must go on."

I asked her later, "How in the world did you do it?"

She shrugged and said, "Well, once I realized that Handel was a chords guy, I just played the fundamental bass notes with my thumb and first finger. It worked okay."

Silly picture of Janie and Carolyn singing in their Christmas nightgowns

My Mom and Aunt Janie were my idols growing up. They could sing, entertain, teach and play the piano like nobody else I knew. I always wanted to be able to do what they could do. But I never quite measured up. Maybe it was because I really didn't get the chance to play the piano much growing up, I don't know. It's probably because I was blessed with different talents.

Playing by Ear is not something I was gifted to do. Perhaps it was because I didn't apply myself enough in Ear Training class in college or just didn't lie awake at night listening to the radio and analyzing chord progressions. Oh well, (sigh).

Anyway, I know that some of the ear training took. I decided that because I am a singer first, I listen melodically instead of harmonically. I can actually figure out chord progressions, albeit slowly, and not quickly enough to play by ear on the spot... unless it's just a 3-chord song like an old folk song.

But there is a silver lining to not relying upon being able to play by ear. I learned early on to notate music so that I could play it. Even before I studied at college, if I wanted to be able to play a song on the piano, I found that if I wrote it out, I could. And then, somebody else could come along and play it, too. Yeah, I may have to resort to the "hunt and peck" method of composition, but I can still get it done!

Difficulty Committing to a Project

2/9/2024

At age 91, John Williams won his 26th Grammy award. That's incredible and so inspiring. Once I heard a statistic that an orchestral conductor gets such positive aerobic exercise from leading the music that he is sure to live a long productive life. Well, that is certainly true for Maestro Williams!

Now that I am officially a senior, I have not felt much like living a long and productive life. I guess having a couple of health issues combined with the dark days of winter have set me in a depression. I just can't seem to get in the right mood to start or continue projects, particularly doing illustrations or writing music.

So, I decided to do a couple of things to help. For one, I joined a community choir. They sing such a wide range of music --- from Baroque and other early music to Classical Choral repertoire to jazz and pop chorals.

We are giving a concert for Valentine's Day featuring LOVE SONGS through the centuries and from around the world. They are even having a silent auction, and a catered meal during which a few scenes from "Romeo and Juliet" will be performed.

The music is fun, but I confess that I have had a difficult time learning it. The shingles infection in my right eye that I have been battling for the past 2 1/2 months is still causing havoc. If I could just see to read better, I might be in better shape emotionally and physically. (My eyes get so tired from drawing, or working at the computer, or straining to see the small print, that I have to work in small bits of time. Then I have to go rest.)

So, I am looking to one of my idols, John Williams, for inspiration. If he can continue into his 90s doing music, then why can't I? So, I am practicing the words by writing them out in large print so that I can see and memorize them without straining. I figure that memorizing is my best choice of attack until my eye heals.

Oh, and I have also been toying with the idea to write a new musical for my summer theater camp. Maybe that will get my creative juices flowing. By the way, I floated the idea to my 4-year-old granddaughter C.J. by telling her, "Grandma's thinking of writing a brand new Princess musical for this summer. Can you try on one of these tiara's for me?" "Oh, yes Grandma." Then she gave me a big hug and said, "You are the best Grandma I ever had!"

Okay, now I am definitely committed to the project!

New Program Music -- Johnny in the Moon

2/1/2024

If any of you have watched Disney's "Fantasia" movies, you will understand what Program Music is. A piece like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is an example of a piece of music that tells a story. The composer Paul Dukas likely imagined the action of the story in great detail in his own mind as he wrote the music. Fortunately for us, we have the benefit of seeing the images prepared by talented artists as we listen to the music.

Usually, however, a piece of Program Music is not performed in concert with images. The concert goers must use their own imaginations to conjure up the images to fit the music. This can be a beautiful thing --- assuming people can actually use their imaginations. (Unfortunately, we live in such a video age, the average person doesn't exercise his own imagination very often.)

Last Saturday I got to attend a concert where some brand new Program Music was having its premiere. This composition follows a story made up by my father Tom Lee. It was written by a young composer Robert Gabbitas for his mother Amy Gabbitas's woodwind quintet called the Aspen Winds.

Amy is the oldest of my dad's 30 grandchildren. When the oldest group of grandkids were young, Grandpa Tom would tell this story on their cousins campouts. He told it many times, and each time he just kept embellishing the story as long as the kids stayed awake. (I don't know if the story had an ending in those days. Dad would just stop talking when he figured they had all fallen asleep.)

After many years, we begged Dad to write "Johnny in the Moon" down for his posterity. After a lot of coaxing, he did and gave it to each of his six children's families, complete with a pretty cool ending. But by the time the grandkids started wanting their own copies, NONE of us could find ours! Finally, after a lot of searching, my older brother Bob found his.

The story is about a young boy who was born at the first research colony in the moon. Johnny was the only person who lived on the moon who had never been to earth.

My dad could tell his stories with such attention to detail, especially about space science because he was a scientist who lived it. He worked for NASA during the Apollo program. He knew the scientists and astronauts and was part of the team that put the first men on the moon. In his written story, the scientific details are spot on to the latest developments for those times --- all 18 pages worth of 12 point single spaced font. His story is a lot more involved than any Program Music piece could be expected to represent!

At the concert, the performers told just enough of the story to briefly introduce the six movements of the music. The children in the audience were invited to draw pictures to show what the music made them see and feel.

This was actually very instructive for me as I was able to get some good inspiration from them. Amy has asked me to do some illustrations to go along with future performances of "Johnny in the Moon." It's a good thing that Bob's music is so magical and fun!

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020