budafulmusic

Another Christmas post.

Season of Light is a new Christmas musical from Majesty Music that I helped put together. It is my first endeavor with them with Christmas music. The focus of the musical is Christ, the Light of the world. In the drama, Mary and Joseph both have individual responses to this light and is contrasted with the wicked king Herod.

My favorite part of this program is at the end. It ends uniquely– not a seasonal song or medley– but with a wonderfully haunting, minor tune set to “The Light of the World is Jesus.” The recording for this piece turned out especially well.  Listen below.

Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!

The Light of the world is Jesus!

Once finished, the choir and congregation join as one simply singing Silent Night, Holy Night by candlelight.

Light of the World

I’m pleased to present my first SoundForth published choral piece , O Come, All Ye Faithful. An arrangement of the original tune/text, this is one of my favorite Christmas hymns because of it’s inerrant nobility and majesty.

Here is how SoundForth describes the piece:

“Unique chord progressions and rich harmonies characterize this new arrangement by talented newcomer Brian Buda. Optional congregational participation and a soaring soprano obbligato infuse the music with vibrancy.”

JWPepper has also listed the arrangement on there editor’s choice catalog. Here’s what they said about it:

“A sturdy way to begin Christmas worship, this setting of the traditional carol is arranged for every choir. Written for SATB voices, piano, optional soprano descant and congregation, it is a fitting choice for opening your Christmas services.”

I’m excited about this publication, and am looking forward to posting about more music I’ve arranged for the up and coming Christmas season.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

The premiere of Paul Keew’s A Christmas Carol is over but the recording is now being made available on sacredaudio.com. Listen to samples and download the original cast recording here.

This exciting new Christmas CD, recorded by my friend Kenon D. Renfrow, is pure magic. (Isn’t the album cover amazing?) It was literally Christmas in July for me as I prepared the orchestral scores for this recording and I enjoyed every second of it. The end product is a wonderful musical experience that has a vintage type of Christmas-y sound to it. Hope the sales go through the roof.

Watch the promotional video here or here.

Download the album here or order the CD here or here.

I’ve been involved with working on another Performance Hall play being put on this Christmas season.

A Christmas Carol, based off the classic Dickens’ novel, is a new musical with original songs by Paul Keew and directed by Laura Spencer. It may be one of the larger productions put on in the hall with nearly 10 musicians being crammed into the backstage area and a full cast of actors and stage crew. Hearing the final product after spending many a long night pouring over them was extremely rewarding. I’m so thrilled to be a part of such an venture.

Ticket’s sold out very quickly and lines were long with people trying to get it but there is also an original cast recording that was quickly put together. It is available to those who were not able to attend, more on that later… I’ll try and get some audio samples up here as well.

As an engraving editor at SoundForth, one of my responsibilities is to get piano books ready for publishing. Just in time for the Christmas season, this new advanced Christmas piano collection, arranged by Amy Herbster from Herbster Evangelistic Ministries, was one of my first projects. It is exiting to see it come to print. It is a companion to the previously existing recording.