Kira Rugen Compositions
SATB
Kira Rugen's Compositions can be found on Fred Bock Gentry Series (JW Pepper), MusicSpoke, Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. There are several other scores which are currently unpublished. If you are looking for something, please send me an email and will gladly help you out!
SATB, Piano
A Golden Thread Will Find You
In 1986, Robert Fulghum published the book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” The best-selling book quickly became a success because of its simple yet profound messages. Filled with whimsical quips about life, the book included such gems as “Share everything,” “Play Fair,” “Put things back where you found them,” and “Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.” Or even funny reminders like “Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you” or simply “Flush.” Robert Fulghum’s clever juxtaposition of the “Kindergarten Credo” with the adult version of creating a civilized society continues to resonate today.
This sentiment is echoed in the commission for the Western Division ACDA Conference in San Jose, titled “A Tapestry of Voices.” Dr. Ben McClendon’s text, “A Golden Thread Will Find You,” serves as a powerful reminder that we are the Golden Thread that weaves love and kindness through our tapestry of humanity. When we choose to reach out our hand and open our gates wide, we chart a path that countless humans have taken, where kindness guides our actions and words.
SATB Mixed, Piano
This arrangement of "Amazing Grace" is for advanced high school, college or church choirs. It plays around with new harmonic language for a traditional and well-loved American hymn.
Featured on the Charles Bruffy Sacred ICON Series and the 2018 AGO Anthem Anthology.
SATB Mixed, Organ or Synth
This piece comes from an album by Kira Zeeman Rugen called Sanctuary. Each piece on the album sets the listener on a journey from darkness into light.
This choral arrangement is meant to evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity. It is a piece without words, and its meaning is derived from how it makes the listener feel. Does it evoke the mystery of the universe, the complexity of human emotion, memories, or a faraway place? You decide!
SSATB, Drum
This carol depicts the tragic biblical story of Herod's search for baby Jesus and the young children whose lives were taken by soldiers during that search. This arrangement by Kira Rugen portrays the story through symbolism, such as the incessant drum representing the path of soldiers and the lively rhythms symbolizing the innocent and playful children who are unaware of their part in this sad story. This SSATB unaccompanied arrangement, though challenging, is deeply satisfying to sing. The interwoven rhythmic melodies and fresh harmony are exciting to perform, and this piece is an audience favorite.
SSAATTBB Unaccompanied
One of the most well-known 19th-century English poets, Lord Alfred Tennyson, was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during the reign of Queen Victoria and was buried in the chapels of Westminster Abbey. Although George Lucas made the phrase "Far-Far-Away" famous in his movie Star Wars, Lord Tennyson actually first penned the words in his poem of the same name. Tennyson said of the text, "The words 'far, far away' had always a strange charm for me." This poem sketches visions of nature and ethereal beauties that one cannot fully possess but can only vaguely hear and feel. The poem also exhibits an out-of-reach atmospheric effect reminiscent of bygone years, deep-felt sorrow, and the realm beyond death's door. The musical qualities of the poem are not in a regular meter, but rather in a syllabic chant that falls into a natural spoken rhythm. In an effort to encapsulate these notions in her composition, Kira Rugen wrote melodies and harmonies that flow with the natural cadence of the strands but are neither measured nor cyclical. Neither meter nor melody stays consistent, yet there is a sense of an omnipresent atmospheric and harmonic language. The return to the text "Far-Far-Away" symbolizes the vague sense of recalling a joy, a pain, or beauty, but like a dream at first awakening, slipping away, and becoming intangible.
SATB Mixed, Piano
Nearer my God to Thee has always been one of my favorite hymns. I have found that its timeless melody and encouraging text, filled with promise, represent a beacon of hope in a world that isn’t always so uplifting. This newly imagined, melodic, and harmonically modal approach to this beloved hymn paints the text as a human outcry, pleading for God’s understanding and love. Listeners will hear the traditional melody interwoven into a pastiche of unconventional, yet plaintive harmony. The answers that we seek from God in the first verses are fulfilled in the fourth verse, which springs off the page in joyful praise showing musically that we have now found God's light, His angels beckoning us forth, and the peace that comes with that reunion.
SSAATTB Unaccompanied
Nearer my God to Thee has always been one of my favorite hymns. I have found that its timeless melody and encouraging text, filled with promise, represent a beacon of hope in a world that isn’t always so uplifting. This newly imagined, melodic, and harmonically modal approach to this beloved hymn paints the text as a human outcry, pleading for God’s understanding and love. Listeners will hear the traditional melody interwoven into a pastiche of unconventional, yet plaintive harmony. The answers that we seek from God in the first verses are fulfilled in the fourth verse, which springs off the page in joyful praise showing musically that we have now found God's light, His angels beckoning us forth, and the peace that comes with that reunion.
SATB Mixed, Piano
Originally written for SA and Piano, this SATB Piano version holds true to the original folk melody while adding countermelody and whimsical voicing. Approachable for high school, community or collegiate groups.
SSAATTBB Unaccompanied
Kira Zeeman Rugen roots her adaptation of Silent Night on the earliest version of the famous carol. The composition honors the original melody and harmony in the upper voices, paired against figures in the lower voices which are meant to mimic the pluck of a guitar. As the text alternates between German and English, we hear the poetry about Mary in the words, “round yon virgin, mother and child.” Each verse demonstrates familiar versions of the melody which are then answered by a haunting soprano melody. Throughout the piece, Kira Rugen’s musical expression conveys a sense of longing and nostalgia, closing with a simple soprano duet. Silent Night, Stille Nacht was composed for the Phoenix Chorale, Charles Bruffy conductor, and premiered on their 2016 program “A Chorale Christmas: Silent Night.”
SSATB Unaccompanied
This captivating and upbeat a cappella arrangement of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel by Kira Zeeman Rugen will keep your choir on its toes, and they are going to love it! With interweaving vocal lines and rhythmic grooves, this arrangement plays on the themes of the original: awareness of one's own responsibility for fixing the world. This transforms the classic number into a fresh vocal piece suitable for advanced vocal jazz or a cappella ensembles.
SSAATTBB Unaccompanied
Using the “Ave Maria” text as a prayer for all humans in our life’s voyage, the tune Dr. Rugen creates sounds reminiscent of an Irish folk song. Her harmonies are 21st century and ever so sensitively displayed. A sense of being on a 17th century vessel that is crossing the ocean to new lands permeates through the music. It is transporting. This is a lovely concert selection for advanced high school, college and community choirs.
SATB Mixed, Unaccompanied
On a rainy Christmas evening in December 2012, Kira Rugen sat down with her musician friend from Northern Ireland, Joel Cathcart, to play through a few tunes for their upcoming concert. On a whim, they scratched out, improvised, and wrote the basic form of this arrangement. With Joel on guitar and Kira singing, they made a simple recording of this famous tune. Kira always loved the simple recording and decided to write a choral octavo based on hers and Joel’s collaboration. The Wexford Carol, also known as the Enniscorthy Carol, is named for Wexford county, Ireland. It is one of the most well known Christmas carols from the Emerald Isle. With a melody in a Mixolydian mode, the haunting Celtic tune was likely passed down through an oral tradition over the centuries, perhaps dating back to the twelfth century. It has long been associated with Bishop Luke Waddings 1684 publication of The Kilmore Carols. In the nineteenth century, writers added the familiar text, “Good people all this Christmas time.” The text tells the story of the Nativity, from Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, through the visitation of wise men, shepherds, and angels.
