I received a letter today which I think will be useful for LDS composers:
From Timothy Johnson:
Aloha Jerry,
I've studied music composition for the past several years and regularly arrange for choir, solo voice, string solos and orchestra. My works are performed regularly for BYUH Devotionals and my pieces have been performed all over the world by BYU Choirs.
If I was to submit some music to Jackman what sort of pieces are most likely to be considered for publication?
Mahalo,
Timothy Max Johnson
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Aloha Jerry,
I've studied music composition for the past several years and regularly arrange for choir, solo voice, string solos and orchestra. My works are performed regularly for BYUH Devotionals and my pieces have been performed all over the world by BYU Choirs.
If I was to submit some music to Jackman what sort of pieces are most likely to be considered for publication?
Mahalo,
Timothy Max Johnson
--
Dear Mr. Johnson,
Our business is very much time-oriented. It requires a constant flow of new material and we publish many new works a week—mostly choral.
Today, I need a simple, thoughtful, original piece for ward choir to complete our March ChoralClub offering. If I find something appropriate, it will be at the printer by tonight.
I have viewed your compositions (great idea, by the way, sending us YouTube links). These are very good arrangements, but they don't come across as being new. Each of the first two hymns have been arranged so many times. We have many editions of each. We are not going to accept another setting except that it be viciously distinct and different. This means that it has over 50% new and original MELODY content. Think of Bach's "Jesu Joy..." as an example of a vicious new melodic approach to hymn arranging. The arrangement itself is more familiar than the chorale tune it is based on. Excellent modern works in this category are Mack Wilberg's "Lead, Kindly Light" and A. Laurence Lyon's "True to the Faith".
Another way to get in is to offer excellent arrangements which are TIMELY. We don't have a new Father's Day piece yet, for example, which we need tomorrow. We also need tidy little pieces for ward choir with piano accompaniment for Summer—Pioneer, Patriotic themes (for the vacation choir—limited numbers—nothing more dense than S.A.B.) We don't need works containing organ at the moment and we are swamped with instrumental projects.
JACKMAN MUSIC CORPORATION
Jerry R. Jackman
Senior Editor / CEO
