Instrumentation: TTBB chorus, a capella
Duration: 5′
This piece was a top-four finalist in Cantus Ensemble’s 2021 Emerging Composer Competition.
This piece has not yet been performed.
The following is a sample of the score. (The entire score is available after providing an email address; see below.)
Program notes: As a choral accompanist, I have the privilege of rehearsing and performing music with a wide variety of people from all ages and backgrounds who come together to rehearse and perform with a single-minded purpose: to share our joy and love of music with our audience, thus building up our community. Some of my most favorite pieces are those in which choral groups sing about singing, and I often look for that sentiment when choosing texts. I am delighted to bring to life Ellen Watkins Harper’s beautiful poem, “Songs for the People” in which she extols the power of music to soothe hurting hearts, facilitate peace, and help us transcend our current circumstances.
Text:
“Songs for the People”
By Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)
Let (us sing) the songs for the people,
Songs for the old and young;
Songs to stir like a battle-cry
Wherever they are sung.
Not for the clashing of sabres,
For carnage nor for strife;
But song to thrill the hearts of (all)
With more abundant life.
Let (us sing) the songs for the weary,
Amid life’s fever and fret,
Till hearts shall relax their tension,
And careworn brows forget.
Let (us) sing for little children,
Before their footsteps stray,
Sweet anthems of love and duty,
To float o’er life’s highway.
(We will) sing for the poor and aged,
When shadows dim their sight;
Of the bright and restful mansions,
Where there shall be no night.
Our world, so worn and weary,
Needs music, pure and strong,
To hush the jangle and discords
Of sorrow, pain, and wrong.
Music to sooth all its sorrow,
Till war and crime shall cease;
And the hearts of (all) grown tender
Girdle the world with peace.
*words in parentheses were changed by the
composer to update the poem slightly for the piece.
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