Thy Silver Pinions
AUDIO
Combined members of the Spelman Glee Club, Morehouse Glee Club, and the Atlanta University Center Collegiate Choirs
David Morrow, conductor
National Collegiate Choral Organization 10th Biennial Conference
November 9, 2023
DURATION
5'15"
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.) a cappella
POETS
Emily Dickinson and John Keats
YEAR COMPOSED
2020
COMMISSIONER
National Collegiate Choral Organization
ORDERING SCORES
Galaxy Music Corporation (ECS Publishing)
Click here for online product page
PROGRAM NOTE
In the early fall of 2020, the world was out of sorts on many fronts: the rising of COVID-19 cases throughout the world, the ongoing inequity of race in America, and a U.S. presidential election unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetimes. Amid so much anxiety and uncertainty, the word “hope” kept coming to my mind. Hope is what gives each of us the power to momentarily hold the rest of the world at bay. Hope helps us realize that things won’t always be as they are right now, and each of us can have an active role in shaping our collective future.
In my search for poems about hope, I found Emily Dickinson’s beautiful poem “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” in which she depicts hope as a bird whose unending song enheartens all who hear it. I was struck by this image, particularly when I came upon John Keats’ poem “To Hope” in which he uses the same feathered imagery. In Thy Silver Pinions, I set Dickinson’s poem, and threaded two lines of Keats’ poem among Dickinson’s lines.
-S.G.
TEXTS
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
- Emily Dickinson
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head!
-John Keats
-
HELIOS • 4’30” • 2 tpts/flugelhorns, hn, tbn, tba
AUDIO
Gaudete Brass Quintet
YEAR COMPOSED
2011
COMMISSIONER
Gaudete Brass Quintet
ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/114-41587-helios.html
PROGRAM NOTES
In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun. His head wreathed in light, he daily drove a chariot drawn by four horses (in some tales, the horses are winged; in others, they are made of fire) across the sky. At the end of each day’s journey, he slept in a golden boat that carried him on the Okeanos River (a fresh water stream that encircled the flat earth) back to his rising place. The cyclic journey of Helios is depicted in this short work for brass quintet. The first half is fast-paced and very energetic, while the second half is slow and serene, representing day and night.
-S.G.