David S. Foley - Composer

Recordings














Selected Works


O Vos Omnes: a capella SATB © 2017

O Nata Lux: a capella SATB © 2015

Escape at Bedtime: a capella SATB © 2015

My Pretty Rose Tree: Mezzo-Soprano and String Quartet © 2015

Asperges Me: Three Similar Voices © 2015

op. 24 Litany: a capella SSATBarB © 2013

op. 23 Vidi Aquam: a capella three similar voices © 2012

op. 22 Lord, for ever at thy side SATB hymn tune © 2011

op. 21 Psalm 23: voice, flute and piano © 2011

op. 20 Magnificat: solo female voice © 2010

op. 19 Quaker Mass: SATB/ vn/ vc/ org © 2010
  1. Introit
  2. Kyrie
  3. Gloria
  4. Credo
  5. Sanctus
  6. Benedictus
  7. Agnus Dei


op. 18 Sanctus: SATB and Organ © 2010

op. 16 Sinewave: digital recording © 2009

op. 15 Three Etudes: solo piano © 2009

op. 14 Cloudscape: orchestra (2, 2, 2, 2 – 4, 3, 3, 1, str) © 2008

op. 13 Hush, All Ye Sounds of War: SATB hymn tune © 2008

op. 12 Denn Liebe ist Stark wie der Tod: a capella SATB © 2008

op. 11 A Poison Tree: Mezzo-Soprano and String Quartet © 2007

op. 10 maggie and millie and mollie and may: a capella SATB © 2007

op. 8 In Prayer: Brass Quintet © 2007
  1. Lauds
  2. Cain and Abel
  3. Vespers
  4. Dona Nobis Pacem
  5. Matins


op. 7 Orion: ob, B♭ cl, bsn © 2006

op. 6 For Annie: solo guitar © 2006

op. 5 Three Byron Songs: Tenor and Piano © 2005
  1. She Walks In Beauty
  2. So We'll Go No More A-Roving
  3. Oh! Snatch'd Away In Beauty's Bloom

op. 2 O Magnum Mysterium: a capella SSAA, with divisi. © 2004

op. 1 The Promised Day: a capella SATB © 2001

Biography

David S. Foley holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from Georgia State University, and the Master of Music degree in Composition from Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
David has composed for various solo and chamber combinations, in styles ranging from habañera to serialism. In 2009, he was commissioned by the Rutgers Theatre Company to compose incidental music for their production of Gardner McKay’s Sea Marks and won the Ruth and Raymond Young Composition Prize from Westminster Choir College for his Three Etudes. The tenor-piano song cycle Three Byron Songs was premiered at the 2007 Region VI Society of Composers, Inc. conference in Warrensburg, Missouri, and his setting of O Magnum Mysterium for women’s choir was selected for performance at the SCI Student National Conference in 2006.
A native of Decatur, Georgia, David has also been an active singer, working since 2001 in High Point, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Whitemarsh, and Gwynedd, Pennsylvania; and, currently, the Portland, Oregon area where he is outnumbered five to one by his wife, young children, and two cats.

Compositions

Litany
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A text setting of Phineas Fletcher's poem "A Litany" beginning with "Drop, drop, slow tears." Inspired by C.V. Stanford's six-voice motets, and an attempt at a more robust anthem setting of the text.
O Magnum Mysterium
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My own take on the traditional text. Pure and simple word painting. It was chosen as an entry in the SCI National Student Conference for 2006.
Orion
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The Orion of Greek mythology is shrouded in mystery. He seems to have been by turns the hunter, then beast-like; similar to the better-known Enkidu of the Epic of Gilgamesh. But it is the nebula named after the Titan that inspired this piece. I have sought to convey a feeling of the otherworldly wonder I feel when viewing some of the telescopic images of the Orion nebula.
Three Byron Songs I - She walks in beauty
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“She walks in Beauty” was included in Lord Byron’s Hebrew Melodies (published in 1815), a collection of poems written specifically to be set to music. The poem’s inspiration came when Byron attended a party at the same time as his cousin, Mrs. Anne Wilmot, who arrived in a sequined mourning dress for her recently deceased husband, Lord Wilmot.