Dale has been writing songs for many years. Most of them are written for singing groups to sing in parts or for meditation groups to use as chants. They fall into roughly five categories.
Rumi’s Songs
The Rumi songs are settings of poems by Jelaluddin Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks. Dale wrote most of these songs in 1994 for her women’s singing group, Circle Sing. In 1995 she began recording them, and the resulting CD, The Breeze at Dawn: Poems of Rumi in Song, was released in 1999. In the creation of the CD, the decision was made to feature a single vocalist rather than choral singing. So, although on the CD we can hear the songs arranged for single vocalist, the charts of the Rumi songs are offered here in their original form, written for a singing group, in two and three parts.
We’re delighted that you are interested in this material. We’d love to hear from you about your experiences with these songs. Please download freely and enjoy. If you’re so inclined, send links of any performance videos!
- Come, Come Whoever You Are (round)
- Don’t Come To Us Without Bringing Music (two parts)
- Full Bucket (two parts)
- God Only Knows (two parts)
- God Only Knows (three parts)
- Huge Barrel (two parts)
- Huge Barrel (three parts)
- Imagine The Time (round)
- I Never Get Enough Of Laughing With You (round)
- Night Goes Back (three parts)
- One Night (round)
- One Who Does (two parts)
- The Morning Wind (two parts)
- The Morning Wind (three parts)
- This Meeting Again (three parts)
- What Is The Soul (two parts)
- You Are Song (two parts)
The Breeze at Dawn features Kirsten Falke as vocalist. Kirsten is Dale’s friend and was also her voice teacher for many years. She sings and tours with Bobby McFerrin’s group Voicestra. Kirsten has also sung with Garrison Keillor on The Prairie Home Companion. Many top Bay Area instrumentalists are featured on The Breeze at Dawn. These include Adam Levy, who has toured with Tracy Chapman and Nora Jones, Keith Terry, renowned percussionist, Rob Burger, accordion player extraordinaire who played with Tin Hat Trio, Mayne Smith, master slide steel guitar player and one of the creators of The Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley, California, and Irene Sazer, who plays violin and sings with the Real Vocal String Quartet. Co-producer Randy Rood, didgeridoo player, guitar player, and vocalist on The Breeze at Dawn, played with The Rounders for years, has backed up Merle Haggard, and is also the owner and sound engineer of Emeryville Recording Company, where The Breeze at Dawn was recorded. Available on Amazon.com and Apple iTunes.
Poetry Settings
Dale has set to music the poetry of a wide variety of poets, including W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore, D. H. Lawrence, Theodore Roethke, Rilke, and others. Some of these songs have been recorded on her CD The Heart of a Miller (available for free download at BandCamp)
- Words from Ana Cara (book of Celtic wisdom)
- Blessing From Beannacht
- Blessing From Beannacht (harmony part)
- Words by Emily Dickenson:
- Hope Is the Thing With Feathers
- Will There Really Be a Morning (two parts)
- Words by Ida Dunson
- Follow Through
- Words from the Gaelic tradition
- Gaelic Rune of Hospitality
- Words by Kahlil Gibran
- On Children (two parts)
- Words by Fra Giovanni Giocondo
- Take Heaven
- Words by James Joyce:
- Cool Is the Valley (two parts)
- Shy Star (two parts)
- Strings In the Earth and Air (two parts)
- Twilight Turns (two parts)
- Waters (two parts)
- When All Things Have Repose (two parts)
- Winds of May (two parts)
- Words by Julian of Norwich
- All Shall Be Well
- Words by Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Child On the Shore (two parts)
- Words by Antonio Machado
- Last Night
- Words from The Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of Allah
- Eight Names of Allah
- Words by Catherine Ponder
- I Forgive You
- I Forgive You (harmony part)
- Words by William Shakespeare:
- Fairy Song from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (two parts)
- Sigh No More (two parts)
- Words by May Swenson
- Question (two parts)
- Words by Rabindranath Tagore:
- Introduction to Death Is Not (words by Dale Zola)
- Death Is Not (two parts)
- Words by Alfred Lord Tennyson:
- Lullaby (two parts)
- Words from the Upanishads
- There Is a Light That Shines
- There Is a Light that Shines (harmony part)
- Words by William Butler Yeats:
- A Faery Song (two parts)
- The Lake Isle of Innisfree
- To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
Inspirational Songs
The inspirational songs are based on the talks of spiritual teachers, Dale’s meditation experiences, and also honor many spiritual traditions.
- Always Home (two parts)
- Angel — (additional verses)
- Angel Prayer
- Body Dancer (two parts) — (additional verses)
- By the Rivers of Babylon
- The Call (two parts)
- Find Your Swim
- Praise Ye The Lord
- A Simple Turning (two parts)
- Take a Little Breath (two parts)
Fire Safety Songs
The fire safety songs were written in response to a request from Dale’s older daughter Aisha Krieger, a lieutenant in the San Francisco Fire Department, for songs to teach children what to do in the case of fire emergencies. Recordings of these songs are played in every classroom in the San Francisco School District (available for free download at Bandcamp).
Score available for Cool The Burn, Stay Low and Go, and Stop Drop and Roll
Personal Songs
The personal songs are, well, personal. It is Dale’s hope that the thoughts and feelings in these songs might resonate with others, as well.
Permissions
You are welcome to download and perform this music. Please credit Dale Zola as the composer. For potential use in commercial recordings and redistribution in song books, please contact Dale at dale@dalezola.com.