ME = Moderately Easy
M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
D = Difficult
Praise Wet Snow Falling Early (Denise Levertov)
SATB, piano - SEA-015-00 - $2.00/copy7 minutes - M Recipient of Highest Honors in the International Waging Peace for Singing Project Featured in Choral Director Magazine's 2004 article, "Only the Best" by Drew Collins Commissioned by the Dryden Community Choir "Yes, this piece is expressive and written well. But my particular affinity for it stems from Alexander's Barber-esque approach to setting the text. Her mastery of prosody, declamation, etc. results in a marriage between music and text that is dynamic and indelible. All too few pieces written today seem to have the text so firmly in mind, which is why I continue to champion this piece." -Drew Collins (Choral Director Magazine) "Opening almost as an art song, this work took full advantage of the chorus' wonderful pianissimo... Within a surprisingly short span of time, Alexander's work develops fully, touching on a range of emotions." -Eugene Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) "This is praise with a sharp purpose, reminding us that peace is no free gift, but a struggle against bloody impulse." -Bruce Bush, Cantabile Chamber Chorale (Piscataway, NJ)
Denise Levertov's powerful poem opens with a tender appreciation of one morning's light, color and beauty, a personal experience which is gradually transformed into a broader meditation on darkness, transcendence and hope. An art song in spirit, the music responds to the poem in subtle ways, with a delicate and nuanced accompaniment, and simple, unassuming vocal lines. The piece concludes with a chantlike serenity - in the words of one conductor, a "benediction."
Score
Recording
(MP3, 2.6 MB, sung by Oregon Repertory Singers ~ Gil Seeley, conductor ~ Elizabeth Harcombe, piano) A recording of this
piece is now available
on the CD:
Finally On My Way To Yes
(MP3, 2.6 MB, sung by Oregon Repertory Singers ~ Gil Seeley, conductor ~ Elizabeth Harcombe, piano) A recording of this
piece is now available
on the CD:
Finally On My Way To Yes
Praise Wet Snow Falling Early
Praise wet snow
falling early.
Praise the shadow
my neighbor's chimney casts on the tile roof
even this gray October day that should, they say,
have been golden.
Praise
the invisible sun burning beyond
the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow.
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown,
that which imagined us, which stays
our hand,
our murderous hand,
and gives us
still,
in the shadow of death,
our daily life,
and the dream still
of goodwill, of peace on earth.
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.
Copyright by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission.
Praise wet snow
falling early.
Praise the shadow
my neighbor's chimney casts on the tile roof
even this gray October day that should, they say,
have been golden.
Praise
the invisible sun burning beyond
the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow.
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown,
that which imagined us, which stays
our hand,
our murderous hand,
and gives us
still,
in the shadow of death,
our daily life,
and the dream still
of goodwill, of peace on earth.
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.
Copyright by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Reprinted by permission.
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