The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

Works about Music

Title

Poet/Lyricist

Voicing/Instrumentation

Level

...or a musician
A mercurial musing on music’s mysterious source
Poet/Lyricist: Philip Dacey
  • SATB, orchestra
Level: MA
Create a Song Once More
St Cecilia invites King David to imagine a restorative path beyond guilt and shame
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB a cappella
Level: MA
Faith is the bird that feels the light
A sweet and soulful affirmation on darkness, light and faith
Poet/Lyricist: Rabindranath Tagore
  • SSA a cappella
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
Give Me a Laundry List (and I'll set it to music)
A lighthearted spin on a boast by composer Giaocchino Rossini
Poet/Lyricist: A famous boast by Giaocchino Rossini
  • SSAA a cappella
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
How To Sing Like a Planet
A genre-defying “instruction manual” as whimsical and varied as the singing planet which inspired it
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • TBB, piano
  • SATB, piano
Level: MA
If You Can Walk You Can Dance
A contagiously joyful Latin dance song
Poet/Lyricist: Zimbabwean proverb
  • SAB, piano, claves
  • SSA, piano, claves
  • TBB, piano, claves
  • SATB, piano, claves
Level: ME
My Aunt Gives Me a Clarinet Lesson
An over-the-top musical fantasy for all ages
Poet/Lyricist: Gregory Djanikian
  • High voice, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion
Level: A
No One Gets A Program
A bluesy, sassy take on a wise old saying
Poet/Lyricist: Dutch proverb / Elizabeth Alexander
  • Vocal duet, piano
Level: M
Those Who Wish To Sing Always Find a Song
The joy of “tra-la-la” — in nine languages!
Poet/Lyricist: Swedish proverb
  • SSA, oboe, piano
Level: M
What’s Keeping You From Singing?
A soulful reminder of music’s power to lift the heart
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SSA a cappella
Level: M
When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
A rhythmic and relevant best-seller about the true “work of Christmas”
Poet/Lyricist: Howard Thurman
  • SATB a cappella
  • SATB, flute
  • SSAA a cappella
  • TTBB a cappella
Level: M
Y Comienzo a Bailar (“And I Begin To Dance”)
An intimate portrait of the bittersweet experience of memory, loss, and love
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander / Augustin Cadena
  • SATB, piano
Level: MA