This year of 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of my first complete recorded song (words & music) and it was inspired by the early records by The Beatles that I first heard while in the Army stationed in Frankfurt, Germany in the early 1960s.

After I returned to the States, I eventually had a recording made of my song and in the picture I am lovingly holding a framed 45 RPM Record of that first song, "The Soho Serenade," in 1965 --

 

"The Soho Serenade" is included on the album, Gentle Peace available below -- click here

Anyone who has written music knows the struggles involved in not only writing it but also getting it performed and recorded and getting it released -- not an easy task.

Now I have gathered together some of my songs and instrumentals from the past for a CD album titled,

One of the songs on the CD was written for a choral tour in 1988 with the Sharing A New Song (SANS) Chorus from Massachusetts, whose mission is to bring people together through music. That year, the SANS chorus traveled to Russia for the Millennium of the Russian Orthodox Church. We learned that for the first time in the then Soviet Union, a combined Russian and American chorus sang together in a concert in Yaroslavl.

For that occasion, I had written aa short canon titled, "A Gift Round," to be sung in Russian.
The English translation is: "We are giving you a gift of our songs."

When it was first performed in Yaroslavl, Russia, the title of my song was the headline in the local Russian newspaper and several Russians expressed their enjoyment and appreciation of my song. This song is included on the Gentle Peace CD.

Here are some pictures taken at the historic concert in Yaroslavl, Russia in June of 1988:

 

 

My years up to the 1990s are told in my story based on the title of an anti-war song written
way back during the War of 1814. The words are from a short poem by a 10 year girl from
Stoughton, Massachusetts. The song by Roger Hall was first performed in a 1981 concert
in Stoughton and a revised v ersion of the song was premiered there in 1990.

My story of suffering and success is told with fran k and honest stories. All these years
I have been trying through music to find "Gentle Peace."

--Roger Lee Hall, ASCAP composer

 

 

Read his revealing memoir about his struggles with bi-polar disorder
and finally learning to manage it successfully and on a disc titled:

"Gentle Peace" - Memories of a Mad Musician

Read about it (No. 7) in the Memories and Music Series --


click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

These CDs also available in the PineTree Music Series:

Creator God - Hymns and Spirituals
(AMRC 0023)

"Celestial Praises" -
A Celebration of Shaker Spirituals
(AMRC 0017)

See the list of sheet music by Roger Lee Hall - click here

 

 

 

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