Come, They Told Me
(SATB, winds, organ, piano, percussion) 10'00" 
Ethnic percussion permeates this Christmas work for college, community and professional choirs.
Listen (mp3, 9.6 MB; combined singers and instrumentalists of Millikin University, Decatur, IL; Brad Holmes conducting)
Choral Score: $3.50 Add to Cart
Score and Parts: Rental (inquire for fee)
Composer's Notes:
This work was commissioned by Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, for performance in December, 2001. Brad Holmes had chosen a holiday program that involved percussion, and he requested that I write a closing for mass choirs and instrumentalists that would incorporate three groups of antiphonal percussion. I decided to base the work on two well-known carols, the French folk song Pat-A-Pan and The Little Drummer Boy by American Katherine Kay Davis. The instrumentation for the work is 2222, 4431, timpani, percussion (seven players in three groups), organ and SATB chorus. The first two minutes of the piece were also used to open the concert at Millikin.The entire piece ends with an exciting Cuban "samba-esque" treatment of the tune, with the choirs singing emphatically, "And so we pray your peace may come, let your peace come, your peace will come!"