SKU: GI.G-005724
UPC: 641151057248.
SKU: GI.WW1679
UPC: 785147009665. English. Text by D. G. Rossetti.
This setting of Rossetti's remarkable work utilizes a great amount of musical nuance and harmonic color. With accessible vocal writing and a supportive piano accompaniment, this will be an excellent selection for high school choirs and above.
SKU: CF.CM9740
ISBN 9781491161203. UPC: 680160919789. Key: Bb major. English. Siegfried Sasson.
Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight As prisoned birds must find in freedom... These opening lines to Everyone Sang by the British war poet Siegfried Sassoon feel as relevant today as they did when the poem was first published in 1919. It was after the end of World War I and these words capture so much of the collective exhilaration, relief, and pure joy about the Great War finally coming to an end. And yet Sassoon himself felt none of that when he wrote this poem. In his own words, he was feeling dull-minded and depressed. Perhaps his time in the trenches was still too recent. One of the reasons the creative arts are so powerful is that a poet like Sassoon (or a painter like Van Gogh or a composer like Mahler) can take their own feelings of deep sadness or pain and transform them into something beautiful, even uplifting. Everyone Sang is a celebration of the promise that things can get better, that there are things worth looking forward to. The poem itself has so much rhythm and musicality. The appearance of suddenly in the first line of each verse gives those verses a rush of energy. Attention to the crescendo in measure 7, and again in measure 37, from mf to f will help the listener experience that rush. There are expressive opportunities with so many of the poet's bold choices of action words - burst, winging, and shaken. Then there's alliteration - a poetic device that can be overdone, but Sassoon strikes a wonderful balance. Suddenly/singing (measures 6-7 and 10-11) Find/freedom (measure 21-22) Winging/wildly (measure 23) Setting/sun (measures 47-49) Was/wordless (measures 65-75) Give these alliterations just a hint of emphasis (without overdoing) to bring out the natural rhythm of the text. And just as O is set apart in the poem by punctuation, I wanted the musical setting - in measure 57 - to honor that feeling of wonder - ...O, but Everyone Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will Never be done. Friends, there is so much good ahead, so much to be excited about. May the singing never be done.Everyone suddenly burst out singingAnd I was filled with such delightAs prisoned birds must find in freedom…These opening lines to Everyone Sang by the British war poet Siegfried Sassoon feel as relevant today as they did when the poem was first published in 1919. It was after the end of World War I and these words capture so much of the collective exhilaration, relief, and pure joy about the “Great War†finally coming to an end. And yet Sassoon himself felt none of that when he wrote this poem. In his own words, he “was feeling dull-minded and depressed.†Perhaps his time in the trenches was still too recent.One of the reasons the creative arts are so powerful is that a poet like Sassoon (or a painter like Van Gogh or a composer like Mahler) can take their own feelings of deep sadness or pain and transform them into something beautiful, even uplifting. Everyone Sang is a celebration of the promise that things can get better, that there are things worth looking forward to. The poem itself has so much rhythm and musicality.The appearance of “suddenly†in the first line of each verse gives those verses a rush of energy. Attention to the crescendo in measure 7, and again in measure 37, from mf to f will help the listener experience that rush.There are expressive opportunities with so many of the poet’s bold choices of action words – burst, winging, and shaken.Then there’s alliteration - a poetic device that can be overdone, but Sassoon strikes a wonderful balance.Suddenly/singing (measures 6-7 and 10-11)Find/freedom (measure 21-22)Winging/wildly (measure 23)Setting/sun (measures 47-49)Was/wordless (measures 65-75)Give these alliterations just a hint of emphasis (without overdoing) to bring out the natural rhythm of the text. And just as “O†is set apart in the poem by punctuation, I wanted the musical setting – in measure 57 - to honor that feeling of wonder –…O, but EveryoneWas a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing willNever be done. Friends, there is so much good ahead, so much to be excited about.May the singing never be done.
SKU: PR.342402070
ISBN 9781491111253. UPC: 680160643226. Octavo inches. Text: Archibald R. Ammons. Archibald Ammons. Text by A.R. Ammons.
To benefit Chorus America, Stucky allowed himself to be auctioned off as a prize - the high bidder would receive a new work from the composer. After a few years and not really hearing anything, Stucky suddenly found himself up against a deadline. He reached back to a favorite poem by A.R. Ammons, Eyesight, which, he says, Won't let...his reader rest till the very last word...one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless..This piece has an odd history. A few years ago, I agreed to be one of the“prizes†in an auction to benefit Chorus America: the highest bidder wouldget a new piece from me, while their money went to the organization. Thewinning bid came from a collection of several professional choruses anddirectors. But I was always a little vague about the details, and, hearingnothing more about it for a few years, forgot the whole thing.One day I received a message from Thomas Edward Morgan, directorof the Ars Nova Chamber Singers in Boulder: they had scheduled thepremiere of my new piece for a few weeks later, and could they have themusic, please? I needed a text, quickly, and (as usual) I was in a Los Angeleshotel room, not at home with my books. So I turned to the internet andsoon tracked down my favorite poet, A.R. Ammons (1926-2001).Once I stumbled on “Eyesight,†I remembered having loved the poemyears before. Archie must have loved it, too, because he included it bothin his Collected Poems 1951-1971 and in the later Selected Poems. It haseverything you want in an Archie Ammons poem: what Edward Hirschcalled his “offbeat, sideways, unpredictable radiance,†his “homespunglory.†It has one of his trademark conversations with a mountain (perhapsfrom his native North Carolina), it has the fluid motion from one line tothe next (enjambment, if you want to get technical) that won’t let him orhis reader rest till the very last word of the very last line, and it has in thatlast line one of those sudden insights that leave us breathless: “some thingsthat go are gone.â€I miss Archie, but he’s not gone. I’m grateful for the wonderful poems heleft us, and I’m grateful that he was always generous and kind when I hadthe chutzpah to add my music to his.
SKU: GI.G-007958
UPC: 641151079585.
This full choral setting is embellished by a flute obbligato. Following the refrain's familiar harmony, the verses intensify through a sudden key change, emphasizing the urgency of St. Paul's teaching: without love, we have nothing at all.
SKU: GI.WW1867
UPC: 785147039761. English. Text by William Wordsworth.
This calm and contemplative work expresses a sudden clarity of purpose in life's journey. Appropriate for Christmas and Epiphany or any time of the year.
