Self-Published Collections
If you would like to order, please note that all of the song titles are available individually from Sheet Music Direct. Please click here to see all of Brenda Dillon’s Sheet Music Direct titles.
African American Collection
It’s often said that music is a direct pathway to the soul. Music encompasses every emotion and reflects the totality of human experience throughout the world. African American spirituals take us on a powerful journey to the soul. They are an outgrowth of slavery that began in the early 1600s, when the first Africans were brought to this continent in chains. Sometimes based on Biblical stories and carrying coded messages, these songs were a way to express the hopelessness and despair of an enslaved population’s situation, as well as a source of hope and comfort.
Titles: “All My Trials” – “Deep River” – “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child/Steal Away” – “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/Go Tell it on the Mountain” – “There is a Balm in Gilead” – “The Water is Wide/Wade in the Water.”
Classical Interpretations Collection
Perhaps all music evokes visual memories and classical pieces are no exception:
“To a Wild Rose” reflects MacDowell’s love of roses.
“Polovtsian Dance No. 1” is the gliding dance of the maidens.
“Panis Angelicus” is Latin for bread of angels.
“Meditation” combines “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Bach and “The Swan” from Carnival of the Animals.
“Evening Prayer” reflects the bravery of two scared children lost in a forest being comforted by fourteen angels.
Heritage Music Collection
Folk music is best described as the music of the people. It’s also known as music performed by custom over a long period of time. The folk songs included in this collection are American, English, and Welsh.
“Greensleeves” began to merge into Christmas music as “What Child is This?”
“Little Brown Jug” was originally a drinking song.
“Prospect” was included in Southern Harmony, a shape note hymn book.
“Shenandoah” originated with Canadian and American fur-traders.
“Suo-gan” is a traditional Welsh melody with English words. Suo means lull and Gan means songs.
“Wayfaring Stranger” describes a plaintive soul on the journey through life.
Hymn Arrangements – Book 1
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save” – Navy Hymn
“Amazing Grace” – Traditional American Melody
“Beautiful Savior” – Silesian Folk Song
“His Eye is on the Sparrow” – Charles H. Gabriel
“Softly and Tenderly” – Will L. Thompson
“Holy, Holy, Holy” – William H. Doane
Hymn Arrangements – Book 2
“Were You There?” – Traditional Spiritual
“Nearer, My God, to Thee” – Lowell Mason
“Children of the Heavenly Father“- Swedish Melody
“I Need Thee Every Hour” – Robert Lowry
“Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour” – William H. Doane
“If There Is Love” – original by Brenda Dillon
Pop Hits Collection – Book 1
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” – from Blue Hawaii
“Here’s That Rainy Day” – from Carnival in Flanders
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” – Gimbel and Fox
“Moon River” – from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
“My Funny Valentine” – from Babes in Arms
“My Romance” – from Jumbo
Pop Hits Collection – Book 2
“Misty” – Erroll Garner
“Over the Rainbow” – from The Wizard of Oz
“The Sound of Silence” – Paul Simon
“The Very Thought of You” – Ray Noble
“What a Wonderful World” – Weiss and Thiele
“Yesterday” – John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Christmas Around the Piano – Book 1
“Auld Lang Syne” – Scottish Melody
“Blue Christmas” – Hayes and Johnson
“Christmas Time is Here”- from A Charlie Brown Christmas
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – Martin and Blaine
“I’ll be Home for Christmas” – Gonnon and Kent
“Somewhere in My Memory” from Home Alone
Christmas Around the Piano – Book 2
“The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
“The Christmas Waltz” – Cahn and Styne
“Silver Bells”– from The Lemon Drop Kid
“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” – Pola and Wyle
“Home for the Holidays” – Stillman and Allen
“Jingle Jolly Jazz Medley” – Brenda Dillon
Christmas Music for Worship – Book l
“Do You Hear What I Hear?” – Regney and Shayne
“In the Bleak Midwinter” – Gustav Holst
“Mary Had a Baby” – African American Spiritual
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”– Plainsong
“Sing We Now of Christmas” – French Carol
“Still, Still, Still” – Austrian Text
Christmas Music for Worship – Book 2
“The Coventry Carol” – Traditional
“The Snow Lay on the Ground” – Irish Carol
“The Wexford Carol” – English Carol
“We Three Kings of Orient Are” – John Hopkins, Jr.
“Mary, Did You Know?” – Lowrey and Greene
“Silent Night” – Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber
Memories of Christmas – Book 1
Memories of Christmas can be evoked by the five senses – sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. The latter was heard over the airwaves or singing at home and at school. The most prominent sounds were heard at places of worship and evoked a sense of joy in the listener.
“Away in a Manger” – William J. Kirkpatrick
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” – Polish Carol
“In the Bleak Midwinter” – Gustav Holst
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” – Plainsong
“The Holly and the Ivy” – Traditional
“We Three Kings of Orient Are” – John Henry Hopkins, Jr.
Memories of Christmas – Book 2
“He is Born, the Divine Christ Child” – Traditional French Carol
“Mary Had a Baby” – African American Spiritual
“Sing We Now of Christmas” – French Carol
“Still, Still, Still” – Traditional Austrian Text
“The Snow Lay on the Ground” – Traditional Irish Carol
“Yuletide Medley” (“O Little Town of Bethlehem”, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and “Silent Night”)