The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

Works about Awe and Wonder

Title

Poet/Lyricist

Voicing/Instrumentation

Level

A Love Like That (individual song)
A tender ballad of unconditional love
Poet/Lyricist: Hafiz / Daniel Ladinsky
  • Low voice, piano
  • Medium voice, piano
  • High voice, piano
Level: M
A Palette To Paint Us As We Are
A moving tribute to our skins’ true colors
Poet/Lyricist: Gerald Rich
  • SSA, piano
  • SATB, piano
Level: M
A Perfect Circle
An evocative tone-painting for bellchoir
  • Handbells
Level: MA
Be Grateful, My Soul
A passionate testament to life’s worth, even when facing adversity and oppression
Poet/Lyricist: Norbert Čapek
  • SSAA a cappella OR 5-part canon
Level: M
Blessed Be the Flower That Triumphs
A rich meditation on tenacity, resilience, and rebirth
Poet/Lyricist: Michael DeVernon Boblett
  • SATB a cappella
  • SATB, chamber orchestra
Level: M
For So the Children Come
An affirmation of the limitless potential of all children
Poet/Lyricist: Sophia Lyon Fahs
  • SATB, piano
Level: MA
Get Curious
A compelling look at how curiosity can nudge anger into something beautiful and transformative
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SSAA a cappella
Level: MA
Go Out! (Concert-Length Work)
A poetic and feisty tribute to liberal religion and freedom of thought
Poet/Lyricist: Centuries of Strong-Minded People
  • A variety of vocal forces
Level: Various
Grace
A reflection on the mystery and bounty of grace
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • Low voice, piano
  • Medium voice, piano
  • High voice, piano
  • SSA, piano
  • SATB, piano
Level: ME
Holy One, Source of Radiance and Reason
A luminous affirmation of the unknowable holy presence found “within, among and beyond us”
Poet/Lyricist: Rob Eller-Isaacs
  • Flexible voicing: SATB a cappella OR 2-5 part canon
Level: ME
Immortal Love
An elegantly sculpted chorale about eternal and abiding love
Poet/Lyricist: John Greenleaf Whittier
  • SATB a cappella
Level: ME
Into the Silent Darkness
A searching mediation on facing life’s wild, primeval mysteries with fear, faith and alleluias.
Poet/Lyricist: Richard S. Gilbert
  • SATB, violin, piano
Level: MA
Kindling: Small Reflections on a Limitless Faith
An ecstatic and introspective cantata on the things that inspire, challenge and nourish our religious lives
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, piano
  • SATB, chamber ensemble
Level: MA
Like a Leaf
A rhapsodic setting of Wendell Berry's wise, simple words
Poet/Lyricist: Wendell Berry
  • SATB, piano
Level: M
Luminous Awakening
An bountiful and expansive setting of a Hildegard von Bingen prayer
Poet/Lyricist: Hildegard of Bingen
  • SATB a cappella
  • SSAA a cappella
Level: M
On the Edge of the Water
An allegory on life’s beauty, transience, and everlasting nature
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • Low voice, piano
Level: M
One More Redeemer
A warm-hearted affirmation of the divine spark in each child
Poet/Lyricist: Rob Eller-Isaacs & Bill Neely
  • SATB a cappella
Level: ME
Praise Wet Snow Falling Early
A meditation on darkness, transcendence and hope
Poet/Lyricist: Denise Levertov
  • SATB, piano
Level: M
Pure Light beyond Light
Ancient and modern invocations of the Holy filled with reverence, mystery and illumination
Poet/Lyricist: Mozarabic prayer, Hildegard von Bingen, Rob Eller-Isaacs
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
Sing Me Awake
A tender and rhapsodic meditation on our return to life after grief and loss
Poet/Lyricist: Gregory Orr
  • SATB, piano, string quartet or string orchestra
Level: MA
Song of Kabir
A luminous song of wholehearted devotion
Poet/Lyricist: Kabir
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
Spirit of Life (McDade, arr. Alexander)
A still, small instrumental arrangement of Carolyn McDade’s beloved song
  • Piano solo
Level: ME
The Chalice of Our Hearts
A graceful canon about wandering, searching, finding and returning
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, chamber ensemble
  • SATB, piano
  • Community / Congregational Song
Level: E
The Eternal One
A tender portrait of the divine
Poet/Lyricist: Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Low voice, piano
  • Medium voice, piano
  • High voice, piano
Level: M
The Gospel Isn’t Written In the Bible Alone
An expansive embrace of the sacredness of all creation
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • Low voice, piano
  • Medium / high voice, piano
Level: M
The Meadow Doesn’t Know About the Stock Market
A sweet and wry tribute to the meadow’s timeless wisdom
Poet/Lyricist: George Ella Lyon
  • Low voice, piano
Level: M
To Make a Prairie
An ethereal setting of Emily Dickinson’s timeless musing on creation and dreams
Poet/Lyricist: Emily Dickinson
  • SSA, piano
Level: M
Trust the Seeds
A meditation seed-planting, patience and faith
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB a cappella
  • SATB, flute, oboe, piano
  • SATB, orchestra
Level: Various