Musical Arrangements
My relationship with music is multi-dimensional: listening, playing, performing, writing, notating and arranging. On this page I share just a few arrangements I have written; many cannot be included due to copyright restrictions. The music shared below is either public domain or is made available with express permission from the copyright holder.
I write custom arrangements and orchestrations for a wide genre: from instrumental to vocal; solo to full band or orchestra. Each is written with the following in mind: the desired outcome or the message to be conveyed; itemized instrumentation; and, the skill level and range of each musician.
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The musical scores below require one of two programs to view and print:
- Scorch is a web browser plugin that allows you to view, play, transpose and print the music. This is my personal recommendation:
- OR -
- Alternatively, the music is available in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary to open, view and print these files – however, playing and transposing the music, as available to Sibelius’ Scorch, is not an option with the PDF format:
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Arrangements:
“Harvest Time”
Brother Van’s Song
Rev. William Wesley Van Orsdel was a Methodist pioneer in Montana. For more information about Brother Van, see this article from the Great Falls Tribune.
Music by: W.A. Spenser
Notation by: David Merkel
“Harvest Time” – piano/vocal/guitar
(Scorch)
“Harvest Time” – piano/vocal/guitar
(pdf)
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“Harvest Time” – lead sheet: vocal/guitar
(Scorch)
“Harvest Time” – lead sheet: vocal/guitar
(pdf)
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“Harvest Time” – piano/vocal (formatted for bulletin/hymnal insert)
(Scorch)
“Harvest Time” – piano/vocal (formatted for bulletin/hymnal insert)
(pdf)
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“Jesus Loves Me: Variations in C for Piano”
An old standard from the 1860′s revisted in a new light.
Music by: William B. Bradbury. Public Domain
Arrangement: Copyright (C) 2009 David Merkel. All rights reserved.
“Jesus Loves Me: Variations in C for Piano”
(Sibelius Scorch Format)
“Jesus Loves Me: Variations in C for Piano”
(pdf format)
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“Bread of Life”
A wonderful song to use for Holy Communion. Visit the composer’s website at www.sueyoungmusic.com
(C) 1993 Sue Young. All Rights Reserved
“Bread of Life” – Piano/Guitar/Vocal
(Sibelius Scorch Format)
“Bread of Life” – Piano/Guitar/Vocal
(pdf format)
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“May the Peace of the Lord Christ Go With You”
A Celtic Blessing
(C) The Blessing in Morning Prayer from Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer
“May the Peace of the Lord Christ Go with You” – Piano/Guitar/Vocal
(Sibelius Scorch format)
“May the Peace of the Lord Christ Go with You” – Piano/Guitar/Vocal
(pdf format)
“May the Peace of the Lord Christ Go with You” – SATB
(Sibelius Scorch format)
“May the Peace of the Lord Christ Go with You” – SATB
(pdf format)
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“Children Go Where I Send Thee”
A Traditional African-American Spiritual
This arrangement was written for two SATB Choirs and instrumental combo (piano, jazz organ, guitar, bass and drums). It was performed live at a December 2008 concert. Only the full score is available here for download as a pdf file. Please email me for the individual scores in pdf format – there’s no charge.
“Children Go Where I Send Thee” – SATB / SATB / Piano / Jazz Organ / Guitar / Bass / Drums
(full score – pdf format) – please email me for the individual scores, free
Listen to this arrangement performed live in concert December 2008:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
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Audio Recordings in mp3 format:
“Harvest Time”
Brother Van’s Song
Written by: W. A. Spenser
Recorded by: David Merkel
“Harvest Time” mp3 file – in MS Windows, right click and select “Save Target As …”
file size: approximately 3 MB
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