Swords Against the Sea

SKU: PR.312419090

ISBN 9781491135778. UPC: 680160687848. English, Hebrew.

In Stacy Garrop’s inspired hands, divisi mixed chorus provides a rich palette of texture and color. Her setting intermingles three versions of the Hebrew folk tune, taking artistic advantage of contrasts between solo and tutti, homophony and grand antiphony, divisi men and divisi women, and the gradual braiding and unbraiding of Hebrew and English texts. LO YISA GOY is the explicitly anti-war Scriptural text better-known in its English translation that begins, “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares... nation shall not lift up a sword against nation.”.
When Jonathan Miller asked me to write two pieces for Chicago a cappella, I knew right away that I wanted to choose two songs from my own past.The first piece, Hava Nagila, is a celebratory song full of joy. I wanted the second work to contrast the first, and to this end, I chose the somber text of Lo Yisa Goy, a prayer for peace. I remember singing this song as a young child in Hebrew school and synagogue, always in context (at least in my congregation) of praying for the state of Israel. I think we’re at a particular point in which people in a lot of different nations could use such a prayer. For this reason, you’ll hear the words in both Hebrew and English.In my research of previous versions of the melody, I discovered three variants for the tune, all of which I have incorporated into my piece.

SKU: CF.CM9777

ISBN 9781491164488. UPC: 680160923380. Key: Bb major. English. Marjorie Pickthall.

Text: excerpt from Brading by Marjorie PickthallHere, where the legions parted; Here, where the shields were laid, Wild orchid, honey-hearted, Grows in the wind-swept shade.Here, where the soldiers rested; Here, where they set their spears, The little larks, brown-breasted, Fall down like falling tears.Here, where the swords came after; Here, where the ships went by,The sea-winds send their laughter Between the downs and the sky.Program note:Between the downs and the sky is a meditation on the text and the notion of here. Reflective and commemorative in nature, the poem speaks to themes of remembrance and our shared connections to humanity translated through the natural world. Pickthall pairs anthropomorphized images of nature against the impacts of human violence and strife.I am drawn to the location-less setting of “here”. We are left with a certain placeless-ness in the poem. “Here” could mean anywhere and everywhere; it could also mean right in front of us in this exact moment. “Here” is also a call to attention, here where we witness, where we notice, where we are called to. Here, where we love, where we mourn, where we hope to become whole.Musically, “here” is metamorphosed through various ostinati gestures as if to depict memory, reflections, echoes which reverberate long after the initial source, a heart beat, relentless waves pounding shores, etc. The work also juxtaposes extreme high and low registers particularly in the piano writing to capture the title image of the “here” found in-between the downs and the sky.The work moves in and out of unison, two part, and optional three part writing; from m. 45 to the end, the middle line baritone part is completely optional. The music functions the same with or without the inner voice part. This is done to aid in the accessibility of the work, to make the music as approachable and successful to groups of all abilities.