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St r ste by che d ne in io , W iss ol ir y m o he ar m ch k t ers S r Co n’s ma niv n u ith to th a 5 13

The Three Wise Women Music & Lyrics Joanna Forbes L’Estrange

a jazzy Christmas song

SSA + piano andagio

I always enjoy writing for women about women and have been commissioned to write many such pieces over the years, often setting my own lyrics (as in A woman (wearing bloomers) on a wheel, Twenty-first-centur y Woman and We will remember them) and sometimes setting words by other female writers (as in Give us grace, my setting of a prayer by Jane Austen). The sound of female voices singing in close harmony with each other has been a passion of mine ever since hearing recordings of The Andrews Sisters when I was young; indeed, the first piece I ever wrote was a setting of Amaz ing Grace for the four female voices of The Swingles when I was their MD. My inspiration for writing The Three W ise Women came from a desire to redress the balance of choral repertoire about biblical characters; choirs have a choice of songs, anthems and hymns about the three wise men (or the three Kings) but just as crucial in the nativity story are the three women who feature in this piece: Mary, mother of Jesus; Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist; Anna, the prophet who recognised Jesus as the son of God the moment she saw him enter the temple for the first time. The fact that one was young, one middle aged and one very old when they became a part of the story appealed to me, as did their unerring trust in God. While this piece will work well in the context of Christmas services and concerts, it’s not exclusively Christmassy. The underlying message of the text is the importance of demonstrating the three Christian attributes of faith, hope and love in our lives, something which is relevant all year round. The music is in the style of swung jazz, that is to say that what looks on the page like a regular pair of quavers should always be performed in a dum-de-dum-de-dum rhythm ie. long-short triplets. The words are paramount and should be pronounced in a speech-like way, as if telling a story, and with plenty of expression and smiles! Ideally The Three W ise Women will be performed from memory to enable singers to click their fingers at the points marked in the score. The lyrics are provided separately on the back page as a learning aid; they can also be reproduced in the concert programme or service sheet to enhance the experience for the audience or congregation. Joanna Forbes L’ Estrange, September 2019

Approximate duration 3.5 minutes

Commissioned by St Swithun' s School, W inchester to mark their 1 35th anniversar y

The Three Wise Women Music and lyrics by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange

INTRO Swing - not too fast, with very clear words q = 1 06 SOPRANO 1

° bb 4 mp j œ j & 4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Once u - pon a time there were three wise mp

SOPRANO 2

b4 &b 4

j œ j œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ

Once u - pon a time there were three wise mp

ALTO

bb 44 & ¢

wo - men, One

j j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

Once u - pon a time there were three wise

wo - men, One

œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ young, one mid - dle - aged and one old;

œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ

young, one mid - dle - aged and one old;

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

young, one mid - dle - aged and one old;

INTRO Swing - not too fast, with very clear words q = 1 06

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° bb œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ & rea - dy

learn

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VERSES Relaxed swing

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our first wise our se - cond wise our third wise

œ œ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ J wo - man, So in - no - cent and young was she wo - man, Ap - proa - ching mid - dle age was she wo - man, So old and so de - vout was she

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VERSES Relaxed swing

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ap - peared with a mes - sage That the mo - ther of the Lord she would be; ha - ving thought she was bar - ren, She con - ceived most mi - ra - cu - lous - ly; come in - to the tem - ple Where she'd wai - ted ve - ry pa - tient - ly;

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CHORUS 25

° bb & œ

(1.) Such (2.) Such (3.) Such

b &b œ

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was her was her was her

faith hope love

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was her was her was her

CLICK CLICK

œœœ Ó œ >. Ó œ. >

faith hope love

CLICK CLICK

œ œ œ

(1.) Such (2.) Such (3.) Such

b & b bœœ œœ >. ?b b œ >.

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(1.) Such (2.) Such (3.) Such

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CLICK CLICK

ser - vant of the Lord long I' ve wait - ed for sent His son to save

œ œ œ œ œ

ser - vant of the Lord long I' ve wait - ed for sent His son to save

œ œ œ œ œ

ser - vant of the Lord long I' ve wait - ed for sent His son to save

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am this us

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she said," The she said, " So she said, " He

‰

j #œr nœœ nœœ œr œœ œ Œ œ

n œ #œ

œ œ œ œ

I, day;" all!"

œ nœ œœ œœ

Be it un - to me John the Bap - tist he And her pro - phe - cy cresc.

nœ

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j œ œ b œ ˙˙˙

nœ

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j œ nœ œ

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as you' ve said; came to be was ful - filled

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¿ Œ

j œ œ œ

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as you' ve said; came to be was ful - filled

CLICK CLICK

¿ Œ

¿ ‰

Be it un - to me John the Bap - tist he And her pro - phe - cy

œœœ ™™™

CLICK CLICK

œ œ œ œ

I, day;" all!"

œ œ am this us

she said," The she said, " So she said, " He

j œ œ œ

‰

God God God

Be it un - to me John the Bap - tist he And her pro - phe - cy cresc.

she said," The she said, " So she said, " He

j œ œ œ

‰

œ œ œ œ

I, day;" all!"

œ œ am this us

God God God

œ œ

j œ œ œ

‰

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cresc.

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God God God

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in in for

mf cresc.

° b & b #œ œ œ œ œ

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in in for

CHORUS

‰

CLICK CLICK

j œ œ œ as you' ve said; came to be was ful - filled

‰ nœ ™ ™ # œœ ™ j œ œ™

j œ

5 31

° bb <n>œ &

CLICK CLICK

¿ Œ

CLICK CLICK

b &b œ

¿ Œ

CLICK CLICK

b ¢& b œ

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soul for truth

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sempre f

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1.2.

Œ bœ 2. Next 3. And

sempre f

b &b w

Œ bœ 2. Next 3. And

sempre f

b w b & ¢

Œ bœ 2. Next 3. And

b ‰ j #œr œœ œœ œr œœ œ œ b & œ œ œ œ ff 3 ? bb Œ Ó œ >.

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the Lord the Lord ful - ly,

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the Lord the Lord ful - ly,

doth pre He

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the Lord the Lord ful - ly,

doth pre He

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mag pared was

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n œ.

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ni - fy!" the way. the Lord.

œ œ ni - fy!" the way. the Lord.

∑

we have E fi - nal - ly

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we have E fi - nal - ly

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we have E fi - nal - ly

1.2.

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6 37

° bb &

OUTRO mp

œ œ œ œ œ

Once u - pon

b &b

time

there were

three

wise

j œ œ

j œ

œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ

wo - men, One

old, one mid - dle - aged and one

young;

j œ œ

œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ

œ œ œ œ œ

Once u - pon

b b & ¢

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time

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there were

three

wise

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there were

three

j œ

wo - men, One

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young;

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time

wise

j œ œ

j œ

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wo - men, One

old, one mid - dle - aged and one

young;

OUTRO

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cresc.

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j œ

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de - mon - stra - ted trust

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œ œ-

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from the

be - gin - ning And their

cresc.

‰

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from the

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cresc.

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j œ They

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b &b

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n˙˙˙ p

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° bb & ˙

b b & ¢

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b &b

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7 43

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sto - ries should of - ten be sung.

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sto - ries should of - ten be sung.

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sto - ries should of - ten be sung.

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Where would we have been with - out our

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bœ

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8 49

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What can

we learn

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from our

three

wise

wo - men? To have

faith,

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nœ

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faith,

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Joanna Forbes L’Estrange (b.1971) is a British singer, songwriter and choral composer who receives engagements throughout the world. A Master of Arts music graduate of Oxford University, she began her career as soprano and Musical Director of the five-time Grammy® Award-winning a cappella group the Swingle Singers, during which time she started composing and arranging music. She is founder and artistic director of the all-female vocal group AQUILA and appeared as a judge on the Sky 1 television series Sing: Ultimate A Cappella. In 2018, she made history with her charity single Twenty-first-century Woman, the first all-female recording session ever to have taken place at Abbey Road Studios. For more information visit joannaforbeslestrange.com Facebook Joanna Forbes L’Estrange; Twitter @JoForbesLE; Instagram @joforbeslestrange

L’Estrange Music … for you and your choir For perusal scores, audio demos, learning resources, videos and to order sheet music go to lestrangemusic.com To book us to run a rehearsal on our music with your choir or to commission us to write a new piece/arrangement for your choir and for any other enquiries email us info@lestrangemusic.com To be the first to hear about new music from L’Estrange Music Like us on Facebook L’Estrange Music Follow us on Twitter @ForbesLEstrange Follow us on Instagram @lestrangesinthenight See back page for more pieces for Upper Voice Choirs

L’Estrange Music More pieces for Upper Voice Choirs by Alexander L’Estrange & Joanna Forbes L’Estrange

Amazing Grace An Irish Blessing A Woman (Wearing Bloomers) on a Wheel Three Eva Cassidy songs Friends Apart and True Give Us Grace High as the Heavens Hodie! Let Nothing Disturb Thee Love’s Philosophy New College Service On Eagles’ Wings Panis Angelicus Red is the Colour St Swithun’s Preces & Responses Suffragette March The Chorister’s Prayer There Will Always Be Music The Three Wise Women The Twyford Carols This is our World Twenty-first-century Woman We Will Remember Them Winter Songs

SSAA (unaccomp.) SSA + piano & opt. flute SSA + piano SA + piano SSAA + piano SSAA (optional piano) SSAA (unaccomp.) SA + organ SA + organ SA + piano 2-part trebles + organ 2-part trebles + organ SSA + organ SA + piano (& opt. flugel) SSA + optional organ SA + piano 2-part trebles + organ SSA + piano SSA + piano SA + piano & opt. percussion SSAA + piano SSA + piano SSA + piano & opt. trumpet Unison/2-part + piano

www.lestrangemusic.com

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