Musical bitter-sweets in times of trouble
I started the following list of original musical compositions and arrangements in the final throes of 2019. I am drawn to the view of Arnold Bennett's character, gifted pianist Diaz in Sacred and Profane Love, who declares that
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Art has to do with emotions, not with ideas, and the great defect of literature is that it can only express emotions by means of ideas. What makes music the greatest of all the arts is that it can express emotions without ideas. Literature can appeal to the soul only through the mind. Music goes direct. Its language is a language which the soul alone understands, but which the soul can never translate.
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I will be adding to the list over time. First, select from these categories: Vocal solo, Choral or Instrumental works, then click on a title to access a Youtube clip featuring the named composition. Links to free pdfs of the scores are provided.
Vocal solo works
The Captain of Her Heart
by Kurt Maloo and Felix Haug as 'Double', 1986. Re-imagined for Renaissance consort.
The score was based on an uncredited midi file at https://paulafitz.tripod.com/index.html.
A free pdf of the score (issued under a Creative Commons licence) is available here.
This song was composed by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss and first recorded in 1967. This reworking of the original by Tony McKenzie, 2022. Reggae score from Sure Dread's Shepherd Theme from the redemption album, circa 1997: Original Reggae Midifiles, http://midi.dubroom.org. I made these changes to the reggae midi file: shortened it; simplified some of the tied notes; adjusted several harmonies to suit the new melody. Free pdfs of the score are available here:
Vocal | Strings | Wind | Percussion
What a wonderful world (the known version)
Composed by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded and released in 1967 as a single.
This 2022 arrangement is a reworking of an uncredited midi file at https://bitmidi.com/louis-armstrong-what-a-wonderful-world-mid . It was created using Musescore notation program and Don Allen's Timbres Of Heaven SoundFont. Click here for a pdf of the band score. The solo vocalist should follow the Alto part in the choral score. (Solo/Alto practise track here.) The arrangement features four synthesiser voices rendered using Don’s Fantasia font. In my choral arrangement of this song (see Choral works menu) the choir sings the four synth parts, accompanied by harp or guitar.
Lazy River – in the style of Leon Redbone
Music by Sidney Arodin, 1931; lyrics by Sidney Arodin and Hoagy Carmichael. Original sheet music from Indiana Historical Society: https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll1/id/1751/.
In this arrangement I wanted to emulate the rhythmic lilt that Leon Redbone gives his performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6an6pCBIXz0. The melody has been changed slightly to avoid a high note. A free pdf of the score and parts is available here.
I get along without you very well – Homage to J.B., Hoagy Carmichael and Chet Baker
Words and music by Hoagy Carmichael, 1939, inspired by a poem by Jane Brown Thompson. Notation by Tony McKenzie, 2022, emulating Chet Baker's interpretation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbPHTBiAVQ. This project arose out of my curiosity over the gap between the strict, regular rhythm of Hoagy Carmichael’s song sheet and the wonderfully fluid vocal interpretation by Chet Baker. (A facsimile of the original score is here:
https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/api/collection/p16797coll1/id/1761/download.) I wanted to see how closely I could capture the Baker version. The arrangement presented here was compiled in Musescore notation program using Timbres of Heaven sound fonts. I hope this video sheds a little light on a singer’s creative engagement with tempo. It does nothing to explore other aspects of sung performance. Click here for a free pdf of the score.
Song of the Earth [solo vocal]
for vocalist, violins, celli, double bass/acoustic guitar, oboe and organ
Click here for my karaoke version video. This upload lacks vocals. Read the lyrics and hum or sing-along! Verse 1 starts after the soaring wail of the oboe.
Complete score, lyrics and individual parts available here.
Reggae'lia 1
A project that started with a pounding reggae beat by Sure Dread, generously uploaded with a Creative Commons licence to www.dubroom.org. The melody, harmony and lyrics are by me: one music track, two alternative sets of lyrics:
Version (i) A glass half empty? Whoever can it be?
Version (ii) A glass half full? I think I had a dream
What changes did I make to Sure Dread's original track? See Reggae'lia 1. The Back Story. This document also contains both sets of lyrics.
Irving Berlin's timeless classic from 1924. Here I blend two recordings from the Internet (many thanks to Sal Grippaldi and Eva Fitz) into an instrumental composite that works for me. Added 16 April 2020. Fifty page score | Vocal score. A complete Musescore file type version is available on request (See Contact tab.)
Choral works
What a wonderful world (SATB)
Composed by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. Refer to the Instrumental works menu for a link to a video clip. In the video clip the four choral parts are played by four synthesisers. The choral score includes a string accompaniment which can be played by guitar or nylon harp. Choral parts (pdf): SATB | Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass. Practise tracks (mp3): Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass
I get along without you very well (SATB)
A choral arrangement of the version listed in Vocal Solo Works. Includes the same instrumental backing.
Full score and choral parts (pdf).
Choral practice tracks: Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass.
Fair and tender ladies a cappella
Based on Fair and tender ladies with reggae’lia panache, minus the panache (no instrumentation). Download SATB score | SATB audio. (This recording features instruments sitting in for vocalists.)
Fair and tender ladies with reggae’lia panache
A classic Appalachian love song, commonly cited as Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies; see https://mainlynorfolk.info/peter.bellamy/songs/fairandtenderladies.html for lots of information about it. This choral arrangement largely follows the text as performed by Marideth Sisco and Blackberry Winter; see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuXAFbeR5fg .
The reggae rhythms are from the Shepherd Theme on Sure Dread’s Redemption album. I made these adjustments to the original version: topped and tailed it; removed several instruments; adjusted the voices of pitched instruments to suit the melodies and harmonies of my arrangement; and mixed in Sure Dread’s nice tom drum riff at the end of each verse.
Reggae track © Messian Dread. Original Reggae Midifiles. Information: http://midi.dubroom.org. Click these links for free copies of the vocal score | the instrumental score. Choral directors: contact me via the Contact tab above if you want the scores adjusted for your projects or if you need SATB audio practice tracks.
for a capella choir
by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons 1931 | Revised for choir by Tony McKenzie 2021
Pianos play the vocal lines because this work has not yet been performed. Click here for full version (verse and chorus) audio track. Pdf score with lyrics available here: Chorus only | Full version. Full version part scores: Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass. Individual part practice audio tracks: Soprano Chorus | Soprano Full | Alto Chorus | Alto Full| Tenor Chorus | Tenor Full | Bass Chorus | Bass Full
Song of the Earth [choral]
for choir, violins, celli, double bass/acoustic guitar, oboe and organ
Click here for my karaoke version video. Lyrics, SATB and band scores as well as SATB practice tracks available here.
Where have I heard that accent before?
Part A. A capella choir (imagine a four part choir in place of this instrumental performance)
Part B. Postlude for piano, drawbar organ, marimba and drums
If you are wondering about the song title, you need to know that the lyrics are completely nonsensical. Free pdfs of both scores are available here: Part A (choral) ; Part B (Postlude)
A delightful, poignant song from the 1992 French-Canadian film, Léolo, composed by François Dompierre, lyrics by Jersy Kowal. I created this arrangement for choirs. In the Youtube clip you will hear instruments used in place of the four choral parts. View the Italian lyrics on the score posted to the Musescore site: https://musescore.com/tonymckenzie/canzone_di_bianca_satb. Download a pdf of the score here. You can hear the song from the film here.
Instrumental works
I wanted to write a new arrangement of George and Ira Gershwin's 'Someone to watch over me'. I was happy with my take on the refrain that everyone knows, but I stalled on the introductory section (the Gershwin verse). I wanted to modernise the lyrics but couldn't re-imagine lyrics and music together. I put the lyrics problem to one side and wrote this short air, called 'Slippingly'. At 1 minute 20 seconds into the video I've placed my 'Someone to watch' arrangement. I'm inviting any gentle souls who sympathise with my plight to offer advice on questions like: is there anything musically worthwhile in Slippingly? Or in my rendering of Someone to watch? Is it conceivable that bits of Slippingly could be combined with Someone to watch? Might that be written for a capella choir? If you'd like to send any comments, please email me (Tony) at myinbox.gush931@passmail.net. Slippingly score | Someone to watch over me score
Turning out the lights, one by one
Homage to Carlos Santana and Tom Coster for their extraordinary creation, Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile); a re-working by Tony McKenzie of various online midi files
Europa (Earth's Cry, Heaven's Smile) by Carlos Santana and Tom Coster, performed by the Santana band, was released in 1976. According to SecondHandSongs, as of November 2024, 65 versions of the song have been released. This is not one of them.
I’d been tinkering with this project for a long time, but it was on 7 November 2024 that I thought of the title, Turning off the lights one by one, after I found the final aching Bm9 chord, the day Karmala Harris conceded defeat in the U.S. presidential election, in a year of political brinkmanship, unthinkable warring, famine and ecological unravelling. Download score | Download parts
The original song, Un homme et une femme, was composed by Francis Lai for the Claude Lelouch movie of the same name, released in 1966. This orchestral arrangement is by Tony McKenzie, 2022. The treble clef of the keyboard part is taken from the score published here: https://sheetmusic-free.com/download/10068/. All other elements are original. A free pdf of the score is available here.
Pensive: Interlude for oboe, bassoon, cello and double bass
Click here for a free pdf of the score.
C Major 7 chord: A nuanced, contested happy ending?
I composed this piece for the uncommon combination of violins, cellos, oboe, celesta and acoustic bass guitar. A pdf of the score is available here. The irregular rhythms were achieved using three different time signatures and experimental use of tuplets. At first I thought I would mention tuplets in the title – ‘Tiptoe through the tuplets with me’ ? or ‘You’ve got to pick a tuplet or two’ ? – but when I finally got to the end I thought that reference to the final C Major 7 chord might provoke richer audience reflection; who knows?
This short composition for string quartet was created in the Musescore notation program in my efforts to challenge the program’s and my own creative possibilities. Constructive comment is invited. Click here for a free pdf of the score.
Ups and downs and ups and downs
Many thanks to the backroom people at Musescore who have created samples of so many musical instruments. This piece is performed by these early instruments: baroque oboe, traverso, pardessus de viole, viola da gamba and virginal. Click here for a free pdf of the score.
An interlude for harmonica, oboe, danso, cello and keyboard. Click here for a free pdf of the score.
A brief musical lozenge for keyboard, marimba and acoustic bass guitar (and their players). Called Started on Thursday because I started it on Thursday. A pdf of the score is available here. In this clip the music is counterpointed with a collage of grotesque faces from the gallery of Barry Deutsch.
My first attempt to compose a string quartet. Download a pdf of the score here.
A composition just for fun. Download a pdf of the score here. Contact me if you want individual parts or the Musescore source file.
Smooth | Duet for oboe and cello
Two instruments exploring self and other, wondering whether they might sing together, as a drone flies along a coastline, filming the shore. Sheet music.
​Whimsy
An excerpt from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, Second Movement, overlaid with the sounds of approaching Pyrenean cows and their shepherd. Sheet music: click here for a score of cow and shepherd parts. A complete Musescore file type version including orchestral parts is available on request via the feedback form (See Contact tab.)
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Piano image by boldfrontiers: https://www.deviantart.com/boldfrontiers/art/Acrylic-Synesthesia-freebie-480217212 CC Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License