I’ve known about Sally DeFord’s site for a while now. I first discovered it while searching for Christmas solos for a recital at church. Like M. Ryan Taylor, she makes sheet music and sample recordings of her songs available for free download on her website. (She also has a nice page with a variety of blank manuscript paper!)
The songs here are really service music; everything on the site has a Christian theme, with many appropriate for the Christmas season. While DeFord writes from the vantage point of the Mormon Church, the songs should generally be appropriate for most Christian denominations. (Some are arrangements of traditional songs and carols.) Her songs are more popular in style than most songs on this site, but they are suitable material for trained singers, especially in the context of a church service or a Christmas concert. (Think John Rutter…)
Here are some of the songs available on her site.
Christmas Songs:
- And His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful
- The Angels Came to Sing
- Born is the Light of the World
- Guard Him, Joseph
- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
- Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth
- Love Knows No Borders
- A Manger Filled With Love
- The Most Beautiful Story That’s Ever Been Told
- Oh Holy Night
- Peace is Born on Earth
- Peace, Peace, Peace
- Promised Savior, Promised King
- The Star of Bethlehem
- What Child is This?
- When Hope Was Born
- When Mary Sang Her Lullaby
- When the Son of God Was Born
- Would I Know My Savior?
Other Songs:
- An Angel to Watch Over Me (a lovely tribute to motherhood)
- Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (DeFord’s arrangement of the traditional hymn tune)
- Make Us One (I like appeals to unity!)
For more songs, see her page of Solos and Duets.
