Apollo's Lyre
AUDIO
The Apollo Chorus of Chicago
Stephen Alltop, Music Director and Conductor
Cody Michael Bradley, Assistant Conductor
Andrew Major, Assistant Conductor
DURATION
5’35”
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.), fl, ob, hp, string quartet
POET
Jerre Dye
YEAR COMPOSED
2021
COMMISSIONER
Commissioned in honor of the 150th Anniversary Season of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, 2021-2022.
ORDERING SCORES
This work is published as a digital score with a performance license. The pricing is based on the number of singers in a choir:
- $60: up to 20 singers
- $120: 21-50 singers
- $180: 51-79 singers
- $240: 80+ singers
To order:
- Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
- Specify the number of singers and the name of your choir.
- An invoice will be sent to you via PayPal.
- Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed PDF within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).
PERUSAL SCORE
Click here
TEXT
A city turns.
A city burns.
A city lost.
A city tossed.
A city weeps.
A city screams.
A city hopes.
A city dreams.
Spring and Fall and rail and rust.
The silent city watches us
Day and night, night and day,
solemn, statuesque and gray.
Time
on time
on time cascading,
seasons glittering and fading
time
on time
on time cascading,
Somber sentinels keep gazing
down upon us, quietly–
marble, stone and gravity.
Apollo’s arrow, Apollo’s lyre.
Plagues and healing in time’s fire.
Apollo’s arrow, Apollo’s lyre.
We long for healing in time’s fire.
We’re burning, burning, burning
We’re left with ash.
We have all been here before.
We’re waves remembering the shore.
Time
on time
We have all been here before
on time cascading,
seasons glittering and fading
We’re waves returning to the shore.
Finally…
a simple thing.
Our city sees us gathering
side by side,
neighbor, friend.
Something shining, once again.
We turn.
We burn.
We are lost and tossed
We weep.
We scream.
We hope.
We dream.
A plague reveals Apollo’s lyre.
We gather, healing in time’s fire.
A plague reveals Apollo’s lyre.
We gather, healing in time’s fire.
We gather,
we’re gathering,
We’re rebuilding from the ashes.
-
HELIOS • 4’30” • 2 tpts/flugelhorns, hn, tbn, tba
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.