Sheet Music

Connie produced a number of manuscripts for piano, guitar, and voice. Some of these manuscripts are just lead sheets of her known “guitar songs,” while others are more elaborate scores of her lesser-known “piano songs.” Quite a few of these pieces were never recorded by Connie, herself.

All of Connie’s manuscripts were handwritten and in many cases only survived as low-quality photocopies. The Musick Group has undergone a massive project, transcribing every single piece, in order to restore Connie’s written work, improve legibility, and present them for other musicians to play.

To celebrate Connie’s centennial year, scores will be added here on an ongoing basis and offered for download via Creative Commons licenses (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Birthday Variations (1958)

Connie wrote Birthday Variations in 1958 as a birthday gift for her brother Philip. She delivered the manuscript but never recorded it in full, herself...the gift for Phil was not to listen, but to learn the challenging piece!

As we celebrate Connie’s 100th birthday, we are excited to share this inaugural shared score in conjunction with our own recording of Birthday Variations.

Credits

Music and lyrics by Elizabeth Eaton Converse, except where noted.

Published by Heroic Cities (BMI)

Transcriptions and engraving by Christopher Goddard

Produced by Dan Dzula

Thunder Mountain (1953)

Very little is known about Thunder Mountain. Copyrighted September 30, 1953, it is one of three such songs where no known recording exists and Connie does not mention or catalog it anywhere else.

It’s possible that Thunder Mountain references Capitol Butte in Sedona, Arizona, or (more likely) Thunder Mountain in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Or, if Connie hadn’t seen Thunder Mountain on her cross-country journey(s), perhaps she was inspired by the 1935 Zane Grey novel (or 1947 movie of same name).