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SING AT THE PUTNEY SCHOOL

 
> Music at Putney

SingSing is Putney's pulse. It has been a central part of the school's educational program since its foundation in 1935. The present Sing Book is a compilation of songs that range from madrigals and Bach Chorales to Beatles songs, from Appalachian music and folk tunes to African songs and freedom songs form the sixties. The songs below and the additional songs on the CD are those we sing most days and which best reflect the energy with which we sing every Thursday morning.

There is so much to say about Sing: we have used it to welcome guests from other cultures; it has been an opportunity for international members of our community to introduce their own cultures through song. Sing has been the subject of debate about spirituality, and about what it means to be a progressive school.

The purpose of Sing, today as in the past, is to bring us joy and a life-long bond with our voices, with each other, and by extension, with peoples all over the world who have used their voices, often as their only weapon against injustice and hardship, and who have celebrated their humanity and empowered themselves by singing together.

—Inés Gómez Ochoa, Music Director


Read about the creation of the Sing CD
Quotes about Sing
SONG LISTEN
Agincourt - Words and Melody from a Trinity College, Cambridge manuscript ca 1415 (arr. by Healey Willan) MP3
Hey ho, to the greenwood - William Byrd (1543-1623) MP3
Non nobis Domine - William Byrd MP3
And did those feet in ancient time - (Stanzas from Blake's "Prophetic Books"; Words by Hubert Parry)* MP3
How Can I Keep from Singing? - Folk Song from the USA MP3
Jamaica Farewell - American Folk Song* MP3
Bright Morning Star - Appalachian Song MP3
Swing Low Sweet Chariot - Spiritual MP3
Amazing Grace - Early American Melody; Words by John Newton MP3
I'll Fly Away - African American Field Song MP3
Children Go Where I Send Thee - Spiritual* MP3
Down in the River to Pray - Appalachian Song (arr. by Mary Cay Brass) - MP3
Freedom - South African Song - MP3
Go Down Moses - Spiritual - MP3
Precious Lord - Gospel Hymn arr. by Thomas A. Dorse - MP3
Nkosi Sikelel'i Africa - composed in 1987 by Enoch Sontonga recognized as pan-African anthem MP3
Gabi, Gabi - African Song MP3
Ipharadisi - African Song MP3
Shumayela - African Song MP3
Siyahamba - Zulu song edited by Doreen Rao MP3
Northfield - Shape Note; Music by Jeremiah Ingalls (1804); text by Isaac Watts (1701) MP3
Ocean - Supply Belcher; text by Isaac Watts MP3
Soar Away - A. M. Cagle (1955) MP3
Russia - Daniel Read; text by Isaac Watts MP3
Glorious Apollo - Samuel Webbe (1740-1816) MP3
Come Again Sweet Love - John Dowland (1957) MP3
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Choral from Cantata "Herz und Mund und That und Leben" by J.S. Bach (1685-1750) MP3
Little Putney - Music by Malvina Reynolds; lyrics Alec Ewald, AKA Contralto Yomama)* MP3

Sing CD roster (alphabetically)

Frederick Andrews
Daphne Braden
Anna Bralow
Anna Brinkman
Anne Carter
Jareka Dellenbaugh-Dempsey    
Pia Eikemeier
Joseph Ellis
Nathaniel Herz
Youngjae Jeong
Sophia Kellner
John-Samuel MacKay
Wendy Mason-Sherwood
Lillian Merriam*
An Binh Nguyen
Spencer Sahim*
Kyra Sparrow-Pepin**    
Elizabeth Straus
Raimund Voigt
Hallie Wells*
Morgan Woolsey
Zoe Wyner
Abijah Reed***
Harry Bauld****
Hans Estrin*****
Phillip Cheah (Music Intern '02-'03)
Kathryn Tolbert#

*Soloists in “Glorious Apollo”
** Soloist in “Amazing Grace”
***Math and Woodworking Faculty; Class of ’53
****English Department Chair and parent
*****Science Teacher, class of ’85
#Spanish Teacher, parent, and former Director of Development
Pianists:
Peter Tavalin (Jazz and Composition teacher) in "Children Go Where I Send Thee," "Jamaica Farewell" and "Little Putney."
Phillip Cheah (Music Intern '02-'03) in "Agincourt" and "And Did Those Feet."

* Recorded live in Barnes Assembly Hall
Total time: 59: 53
Recorded on May 10, 2003 at Soundesign, Brattleboro, VT
Design: Liz Richardson Smith ’72
Production Manager: Don Cuerdon, Director of Communications



The Putney School
Elm Lea Farm
Putney, Vermont 05346-8675
(802) 387-6219 or (802) 387-5566  (802) 387-6278 (fax)