ME = Moderately Easy
M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
D = Difficult
Create a Song Once More (St. Cecilia Speaks to King David)
SATB a cappella - Boosey & Hawkes' CME Conductor's Choice #48018891 - $1.95 /copy(This title may be purchased directly from Seafarer Press.)
5 minutes - MD Commissioned by Elmer Iseler Singers and Doreen Rao, for conductor Jennifer Haywood
"The Altarpiece of St. Cecilia" by Raphael
This work was inspired by Raphael's Altarpiece of St. Cecilia, in which Cecilia brings forgiveness to King David after his shameful fall from grace, encouraging him to make music once again. With poetic imagery from the psalms and a message of unconditional forgiveness, this piece's proud and defiant opening is transformed into a pastoral song, full of reconciliation and peace.
This song was conceived with the clear tone and sense of contrapuntal line for which the Elmer Iseler Singers is renowned. A showpiece for a choir with a strong sense of pitch and a clean blend of voices.
To view the score, click here
To hear a recording, click here
(MP3, 2.3 MB, sung by the Elmer Iseler Singers ~ Jennifer Haywood, conductor)
(MP3, 2.3 MB, sung by the Elmer Iseler Singers ~ Jennifer Haywood, conductor)
Create a Song Once More
When young and proud, you praised a God of wrath,
And called on Him to grind beneath His heel
The bones of all who wandered from His path.
How tall you stood! But now, my friend, you kneel,
A golden boy no longer. Your hands are stained
With blood, and in despair they cling to pain
While your sweet harp lies banished on the ground.
Where is your voice? This silence can't restore
The past, and only grief that's given sound
Is heard and healed. Create a song once more
Of streams which clap their hands to greet each day,
And hills and trees which praise the heavens vast.
Take up your harp, my shepherd king, to play
And sing again, and find some peace at last.
Copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Alexander. Reprinted by permission.
When young and proud, you praised a God of wrath,
And called on Him to grind beneath His heel
The bones of all who wandered from His path.
How tall you stood! But now, my friend, you kneel,
A golden boy no longer. Your hands are stained
With blood, and in despair they cling to pain
While your sweet harp lies banished on the ground.
Where is your voice? This silence can't restore
The past, and only grief that's given sound
Is heard and healed. Create a song once more
Of streams which clap their hands to greet each day,
And hills and trees which praise the heavens vast.
Take up your harp, my shepherd king, to play
And sing again, and find some peace at last.
Copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Alexander. Reprinted by permission.
View and play the score
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If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click to download the Scorch plug-in.
If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click to download the Scorch plug-in.