'S ann an Ile
SAA
Words: Trad. Anon
'I was born and brought up on the beautiful Isle of Islay'. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth music)....
Read More »Sheena is a choral director and composer who has worked with amateur choirs of many shapes and sizes for thirty years. In 1993 she was the founding director of Rudsambee Company of Singers in Edinburgh. Originally from London, she is now based in Columbus, Ohio.
Much of her composing is inspired by traditional music, poetry and the natural world. Among the pieces published by Canasg are settings of Emily Dickinson, Kathleen Raine and William Soutar, and arrangements of folk songs and carols from Britain, North America, New Zealand, France and elsewhere in Europe.
Sheena has been commissioned and/or performed by numerous groups on both sides of the Atlantic, including the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Columbus Public Art (Ohio), the St Magnus International Festival (Orkney), the Choral Project (San Jose, California), Voices of Ascension (NYC), the Peninsula Women’s Chorus (California), Seattle Pro Musica, Amasong (Illinois), Anima Children's Chorus (Chicago), Cappella Nova (Scotland), Echo (London), and Icosa (London). She has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
For more information, please visit Sheena's website at www.sheenaphillips.com
SAA
Words: Trad. Anon
'I was born and brought up on the beautiful Isle of Islay'. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth music)....
Read More »SATB
Words: trad. Gaelic
'I was born and brought up on the beautiful Isle of Islay'. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth music)....
Read More »SATB, piano
Words: Rabindranath Tagore
An ecstatic paean to light — “heart-sweetening, eye-kissing light” — by the major Bengali poet, composer, playwright, artist and author...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
All for me grog (a.k.a. Across the Western Ocean) is a delightfully rambling grumble about the tough life on board...
Read More »SATB
Words: John Newton
A jazz setting that builds up from quiet 5-part harmony in verse 1 to a rollicking finale...
Read More »solo voice or choir, equal or mixed voices
Words: Kathleen Raine
Free-flowing setting of Kathleen Raine's ecstatic paean to the natural world. For solo voice or choir, equal or mixed voices....
Read More »SA, organ
Words: anon.
Traditional Irish blessings in a lovely arrangement for treble voices that would grace any wedding....
Read More »SATB
Words: anon.
A new take on traditional Irish blessings, with mixed meter (3/4, 4/4) and a calm, expansive feel. Perfect for weddings...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
He'd love to go off with the tall tailoress, but unfortunately he has an extremely unpleasant wife to dispose of...
Read More »SSA
Words: Emily Dickinson
A portrayal of the ever-shifting and apparently infinite sea....
Read More »SATB
Words: Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Burns' famous song of enduring friendship, traditional for Hogmanay (New Year) but suitable year round...
Read More »SATB divisi
Words: From the Inchcolm Antiphoner
'Aurora rutilat lucis prenuncia...' ('Dawn glows red, heralding daylight'). Atmospheric and soaring setting of a 6th century text...
Read More »TTB
Words: English by K.E.Roberts (1877-1962), based on the original Welsh
A strong carol for a cappella male voices, in the harmonious Welsh plygain tradition....
Read More »SATB
Words: Robert Burns (1759-1796)
'Sleep I can get nane, for thinkin on my dearie...' A simple setting of Burns' plaintive song of sorrow...
Read More »SATB, optional soprano recorder & violin
Words: Trad. English
“I've been a-rambling all the night ...” A foot-stomping folk-style arrangement, with optional soprano recorder and violin parts to spice...
Read More »SSATBB
Words: Sheena Phillips
An English language version of Senfl's lively depiction of bell-ringing in a Rhineland town, including onomatopeoic bell sounds and conversation...
Read More »TBarB, piano
Words: Trad.
A retelling of the famous ballad, collected by Alan Lomax, of gunfighter and outlaw Billy the Kid....
Read More »equal or mixed voices
Words:
Four varied rounds about birds - from the humble sparrow to the majestic eagle, chattering linnet to soaring skylark. Texts...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
Second in the set is Blood red roses, a long haul shanty with pairs of rising and falling phrases and...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
The old shepherd enjoys a drink and has to be put to bed. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth music)....
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
Boney is a cheerful and scathing narrative of Napoleon's adventures in Europe and his eventual defeat at the hands of...
Read More »SSAA
Words: Sheena Phillips
The second song in the set Knitting Patterns...
Read More »treble voices (unison) and piano
Words: Jean Kenward (1920–)
“Will the tree be dressed and lit?” “Will the star be in the sky?” Images of candles and quietly sung...
Read More »SATB
Words: Robert Burns (1759-1796)
'Up in the morning early's no for me' - especially when it's a cold, cold wind that blows. A brisk...
Read More »SATB, optional flute & violin
Words: Edwina Towson
Rural China from the perspective of the crane bird in flight, taking in all the life below. Spare harmonies and...
Read More »SSA, piano, optional flute & violin
Words: Edwina Towson
Rural China from the perspective of the crane bird in flight, taking in all the life below. Spare harmonies and...
Read More »SATB
Words: trad. Gaelic
'I heard it from three people'. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth music)....
Read More »3 or 4 part equal or mixed voices
Words: Anon
Each line of this cheerful and raucous round forms a competing set of street market cries: “fine parsnips”, “fruit in...
Read More »3 or 4 part equal or mixed voices
Words: Anon
This mischievous round is a lesson for apprentices in business: often borrow, seldom lend, and never, never, never pay....
Read More »SATB
Words: trad. Gaelic
Skinny Donald wears a long coat and short trousers, and it's about time his hair saw a comb. Traditional port-a-beul...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Croatian
(Words in Croatian). 'If I had wings like a bird, I would fly to you every night my dove'...An intense,...
Read More »SATB
Words: William Soutar
“The darg is owre and the day is düne”. The day's work is done, and all the nodding heads are...
Read More »TBarB
Words: Trad. (vocables)
A catchy patter song from the Van district (once in Armenia, now part of Turkey). Easy ranges for changing voices....
Read More »SATB divisi
Words: Trad. Anon
'Hush ye my baby and sleep without fear..." A gorgeous traditional lullaby......
Read More »SAB
Words: Trad. Gaelic
A rhythmic and alliterative Gaelic carol with a rousing chorus about the bannock (oatcakes traditionally baked on Christmas Eve to...
Read More »equal or mixed, 3 parts
Words: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
One of four Bird Rounds...
Read More »SA or treble voices & piano
Words: Trad. French
Gentle arrangement of the traditional French carol, with dreamy interludes....
Read More »SATB divisi
Words: Thomas Ken (1637–1711)
A glorious concert setting of Thomas Ken's poem An Evening Hymn with allusions to bell-ringing and hymn-singing...
Read More »SSA
Words: Emily Dickinson
The headlong excitement of an ‘inland soul’ on first going to sea....
Read More »SATB
Words: William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
A spell-binding fairy charm and lullaby from Shakespeare's A midsummer Night's Dream....
Read More »SATB with SSA divisi verses
Words: Trad. Anon
The song of a broken-hearted girl, waiting for the boatman who will probably never return. A beautiful lilting traditional tune....
Read More »SATB, solo T/Bar
Words: John Bannerman
'My heart's love; fair-haired Mary.' The original Gaelic version of the delightful Lewis Bridal Song, also known as Mairi's Wedding....
Read More »SSAA
Words: Sheena Phillips
The first song in the set Knitting Patterns...
Read More »SATB
Words: Traditional
Mix and match joyful harmonisations of this old African American plantation tune....
Read More »SATB
Words: J M Neale (1818 – 1866), based on the original German and Latin
A swinging arrangement of the well known carol, for SATB voices a cappella. An ideal opener or encore...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
A lovely slow and heartfelt song, widely known as the Eriskay Love Lilt...
Read More »SATB
Words: Anon., adapted
A contemporary take on the 16th century English song of unrequited love, using three of the original verses....
Read More »SSAA
Words: Trad. English
Lively arrangement of a traditional wassail song from Yorkshire in the North of England — with a barrage of trumpets...
Read More »TTBB
Words: Trad. English
Lively arrangement of a traditional wassail song from Yorkshire in the North of England — with a barrage of trumpets...
Read More »SATB
Words: from Psalm 133
A well known Jewish song about how good it is to live in harmony, based on words from Psalm 133,...
Read More »SATB
Words: Anon
'My angels are sounding their trumpets to waken the sleepers around. There's no time for doubting...'A stirring Maine Shaker song...
Read More »SATB
Words: William Blake
A poem of human injustice by William Blake (1757-1827), still relevant today...
Read More »SATB
Words: Pauline T.
A classic American hymn and anthem to singing....
Read More »SATB
Words: Traditional
A New World lullaby arranged for soloist and echoing chorus....
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Bengali and 2 Esdras 14
Based on a traditional lilting Bengali song about “the way of life”...
Read More »SSAA
Words: Trad. Bengali and 2 Esdras 14
Based on a traditional lilting Bengali song about “the way of life”......
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Part of the set Songs of Love and Longing...
Read More »SATB
Words: Christina Rossetti
You can hear the swirling snow and moaning wind in this atmospheric setting of Rossetti's famous poem...
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Part of the set Songs of Love and Longing...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Hungarian, English paraphrase by Sheena Phillips
A dreamy Hungarian wedding song supplied both in English and in Hungarian....
Read More »SSAA
Words: Sheena Phillips
Three 18th c. rounds by Caldara and Telemann arranged and given new lyrics about knitting!...
Read More »SATB
Words: Anon
A Shaker 'gift song', received by Addah Z Potter in 1838....
Read More »SATB, optional guitar, percussion
Words: Trad. Jewish
A quickly learnable traditional Chanukah song to add to your holiday collection....
Read More »equal or mixed, 4 parts
Words: William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
One of four Bird Rounds...
Read More »SATB, optional guitar
Words: Christina Rossetti
An intimate setting of Rossetti's famous words, and a favourite with audiences and singers...
Read More »SATB
Words: Christina Rossetti
A cappella setting of Rossetti's famous poem, a favourite with audiences and singers...
Read More »SATB, solo T/Bar
Words: Peter Hill & Sheena Phillips
A delightful new English language version of the well-known Mairi's wedding, more faithful to the meaning of John Bannerman's original...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
Neil plans to wear out some shoe-leather when his eagle-eyed mum goes away on her travels...
Read More »SATB, optional soprano recorder, optional piano
Words: Sheena Phillips and John Cameron
Gorgeous 19th century song of homesickness and homecoming, made famous by the Rankin Family. New English verses, traditional Gaelic refrain....
Read More »SAB
Words:
Shaker song with a driving energy, dating from the New Lebanon community of 1844....
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
Four highly varied foot-tapping Gaelic puirt - or mouth music - songs...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
Three highly varied foot-tapping Gaelic puirt - or mouth music - songs...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
A further three highly varied foot-tapping Gaelic puirt - or mouth music - songs...
Read More »SATB
Words: Norman MacCaig
A quiet song of remembrance, written in memoriam Jill Sumner (1941 - 2001)...
Read More »SSA
Words: Emily Dickinson
Babbling brook, cascading river, impassive sea and the poet's desire for union are all portrayed here....
Read More »SAA
Words: Philip Sidney
A wonderful renaissance text about love given a lilting and harmonious setting. Great wedding piece....
Read More »SATB
Words: Philip Sidney
A wonderful renaissance text about love given a lilting and harmonious setting. Great wedding piece....
Read More »TBB
Words: Philip Sidney
A wonderful renaissance text about love given a lilting and harmonious setting. Great wedding piece....
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
'If I had threepence I'd spend it on drink, if I had sixpence I'd try getting married'. Traditional port-a-beul (mouth...
Read More »SSAB
Words: Trad.
A glorious a cappella fanfare — or a peal of vocal bells — to open a Christmas concert....
Read More »TTBB
Words: Trad.
A glorious a cappella fanfare — or a peal of vocal bells — to open a Christmas concert....
Read More »SATB recorder & drum
Words: Trad. French
A lively pipe and drum carol, as sung traditionally in France on Christmas Eve, arranged with panache...
Read More »SAA
Words: 20th C. Maori love song
Beautiful Maori love song (words in Maori) originating in army camps in Auckland in World War 1...
Read More »SATB
Words: 20th C. Maori love song
Beautiful Maori love song (words in Maori) originating in army camps in Auckland in World War 1....
Read More »TBB
Words: 20th C. Maori love song
Beautiful Maori love song (words in Maori) originating in army camps in Auckland in World War 1...
Read More »SATB & guitar
Words: Trad. French
(Words in French) A charming traditional carol about the visit of the shepherds, arranged in folk style with simple harmonies...
Read More »3 or 4 part equal or mixed voices
Words: Anon
From Jane Chattock's hand-written book of rounds for social singing, dated 1832...
Read More »SATB
Words: William Soutar (1898-1943)
“Harvest the light of the moon to make yourself a gown”. Create a spellbound interlude with this gem...
Read More »SATB, optional guitar and/or treble instrument
Words: Trad. Cornish
A sturdy folk carol from Cornwall (SW England) related to The Holly and The Ivy...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
First in the set is the rousing Santiana, popular both as a pumping shanty and as a capstan shanty...
Read More »SSA
Words: Emily Dickinson
Three contrasting Emily Dickinson settings, by turns impulsive, wishful, wondering and definite...
Read More »SAB
Words: Anon
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free. One of the most famous Shaker songs...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
Shanties (or chanteys) were an essential part of the rhythm of life and work on board ship. Here are six...
Read More »equal or mixed, 4 parts
Words: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1832)
One of four Bird Rounds...
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Sheena Phillips' settings of five exquisite poems by Emily Dickinson. See individual titles for details....
Read More »SATB
Words: Sheena Phillips
A wordless lament for the people of Aleppo, one of the Syrian cities tragically destroyed in war...
Read More »SSAA
Words: Sheena Phillips
A wordless lament for the people of Aleppo, one of the Syrian cities tragically destroyed in war...
Read More »SATB
Words: anon. (New Zealand)
Our take on the lively nautical folk song that went viral on TikTok in early 2021....
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
(Words in French dialect). A simple and gently flowing lullaby from the Massif Central region of France...
Read More »5 mixed/equal voices
Words: P P Bliss
A round about singing from the 19th century American singing school tradition...
Read More »equal or mixed, 3 parts
Words: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906)
One of four Bird Rounds...
Read More »SATB
Words: Philipp Nicolai, trans. Henry Harbaugh
An aleatoric treatment of the lovely German chorale tune Wie Schön Leuchtet der Morgenstern....
Read More »SAB
Words: Anon
“O brighter than the morning star is the heart that's pure and free”. A wonderful soaring Shaker hymn from Ohio....
Read More »SATB & folk harp
Words: Martin Shaw (1875 – 1958) (based on the original German)
A charming German carol (in English translation) from the tradition of cradle-rocking Christmas services...
Read More »SSAAA
Words: William Blake
'Sweet smiles, in the night, hover over my delight...' A mother tenderly wishes sweet dreams for her happy child...
Read More »SAB
Words: Trad. Gaelic
A beautiful and simple Hebridean carol, which addresses the Christ child with the most gorgeous and endearing words...
Read More »TBarB, piano
Words: Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Nostalgia for a way of life and work long gone but not forgotten....
Read More »SAA
Words: Trad. Anon
I have a wife, a stream, a lump of white soap and a filthy shirt. Now what...
Read More »SATB
Words: trad. Gaelic
'I have a wife, a stream, a lump of white soap and a filthy shirt. Now what?!...
Read More »TTB
Words: English by Sheena Phillips, based on the original Welsh
A strong carol for a cappella male voices, in the harmonious Welsh plygain tradition....
Read More »treble voices (unison) & handbells or chimes
Words: Peter Hill & Sheena Phillips, based on the original Gaelic
An English version of a beautiful traditional Hebridean lullaby to the Christ Child...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
A less well known shanty, The Dead Horse was traditionally sung after 30 days at sea...
Read More »SATB
Words: Anon
A mesmeric depiction of the ceaseless rhythm of the earth's journey through space, based on a chant of unknown origin....
Read More »treble voices, unison with optional harmony & piano
Words: Jean Kenward (1920–)
“Pull the bells until they ring! Let the people dance and sing!” A joyful song with easy (and optional) harmonies...
Read More »SATB
Words:
A piece of sheer fun, imagining in music those dense clouds of hungry hovering midgies that plague visitors...
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Part of the set Songs of Love and Longing...
Read More »Treble unison chorus & piano
Words: William Soutar (1898-1943)
“Muckle” is Scots for big, and the song portrays a giant who cavorts around in a graveyard....
Read More »SATB
Words: Peter Hill
A bright, uplifting song for all those who know it will all work out right in the end....
Read More »SATB, piano (optional band)
Words: Sheena Phillips
A ballad for our times: lyrics about global warming and the strong tune of House of the Rising Sun...
Read More »treble (SA) chorus & piano
Words: William Soutar
A vignette of a dreamy and tearful princess stuck in a tower....
Read More »3 or 4 part equal or mixed voices
Words: Anon
This round sets out in praise of love, but foresees a lamentable end: six squalling brats and a scolding partner...
Read More »SATB
Words: William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
A lively and passionate spring song from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale....
Read More »TBarB, piano
Words: Trad.
A song about the ranching life: long hours and bad food!...
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad. Anon
“The water is wide, I cannot get o'er”. A song about love as wished for and as experienced...
Read More »treble (SA) chorus & piano
Words: William Soutar (1898-1943)
The “auld man” standing on a hill is a windmill, whose labours are accompanied by an infectiously playful jazz piano...
Read More »SATB with sop. solo
Words: Robert Burns (1759-1796)
This through-composed arrangement is a delightful setting of a plangent text, with interest in every voice part...
Read More »SATB, handbells or other tuned (or untuned) percussion
Words: Traditional
Something a bit different: three flexible ‘choral soundscapes’ based on a wassail song, a chorale, and a plantation song...
Read More »TBarB, piano
Words: Trad. American and Omar Barker
Three songs from - or about - the days of cattle ranching and long-distance droving in the 19th century America...
Read More »treble chorus & piano
Words: William Soutar
William Soutar was dedicated to the Scots language and wrote many delightful poems for children...
Read More »TBB, piano
Words: Trad.
Rounding off the set is the shanty traditionally sung while pumping the ship dry at the end of a voyage....
Read More »SSAA
Words: Sheena Phillips
The last in the set Knitting Patterns...
Read More »SAB
Words: Sheena Phillips
A strong dance tune from the Shaker community in Connecticut, sung to vocables....
Read More »treble voices with piano
Words: Jean Kenward (1920–)
Two contrasting and easy carols for treble voices and piano: the first, quiet and dreamy, the second, joyful and energetic....
Read More »TTB
Words: English, based on the original Welsh
Two strong carols for a cappella male voices, in the harmonious Welsh plygain tradition....
Read More »SATB
Words: Pär Lagerkvist (1891-1974)
(words in Swedish) 'Let my shadow disappear into yours.' A song about the magic of twilight...
Read More »SATB, handbells or other tuned (or untuned) percussion
Words: Traditional
A sound-cloud of wassail song fragments over a background of tuned percussion. Use as an opening processional....
Read More »SATB
Words: Trad.
A strong and easily learnt arrangement of one of the less well known Yorkshire wassail songs, with optional audience participation....
Read More »SATB
Words: Peter Hill
'Take my hand and we'll walk on together...' A wedding song with a difference...
Read More »SATB
Words: William Chatterton Dix
A quiet and lovely arrangement of the 19th century carol, with mildly dissonant harmonies....
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Part of the set Songs of Love and Longing...
Read More »SATB
Words: Emily Dickinson
Part of the set Songs of Love and Longing...
Read More »SATB & descant
Words: Trad. Arabic, trans. Fred Kaan
A Palestinian prayer for peace. Words in Arabic and in English translation by Fred Kaan...
Read More »SATB, soprano recorder
Words: Trad. Scottish
A beautiful Robert Burns song of love betrayed, with a backdrop of bird song....
Read More »