The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

Look To This Day!

A wholehearted embrace of the present moment based on an ancient Hindu text

Music: Elizabeth Alexander

Words: Kalidasa

An exuberant setting of “The Exhortation of the Dawn,” a timeless writing by the 5th century Hindu poet, Kalidasa. Orchestral chimes and a feast of choral counterpoint bring vitality to the joyful mandate to live fully in the present moment.

Details and Ordering Information

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Text

The Exhortation of the Dawn

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty;

For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.

Kalidasa

Performers

Performers

Premiere: Choir of First Unitarian Society of Madison / Ellsworth Snyder (Madison, WI)
Camerata Singers of Muskegon / Floyd Farmer (Muskegon, MI)
Choir of First Unitarian Church of San Jose. Building Dedication (San Jose, CA)
Choir of First Unitarian Society of Madison / Dan Broner (Madison, WI)
Choir of Unity Church-Unitarian of Saint Paul / Ruth Palmer (St. Paul, MN)