Epitaph for the Race of Man
AUDIO
Volti; Robert Geary, conductor
DURATION
4’30”
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.) a cappella
POET
Edna St. Vincent Millay
YEAR COMPOSED
2003
COMMISSIONER
Volti
THIS IS A MOVEMENT FROM:
Sonnets of War and Mankind
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:
⁃ $55: up to 20 singers
⁃ $110: 21-50 singers
⁃ $165: 51-79 singers
⁃ $220: 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
Here lies, and none to mourn him but the sea,
That falls incessant on the empty shore,
Most various Man, cut down to spring no more;
Before his prime, even in his infancy
Cut down, and all the clamour that was he,
Silenced; and all the riveted pride he wore,
A rusted iron column whose tall core
The rains have tunnelled like an aspen tree.
Man, doughty Man, what power has brought you low,
That heaven itself in arms could not persuade
To lay aside the lever and the spade
And be as dust among the dusts that blow?
Whence, whence the broadside? whose the heavy blade? . . .
Strive not to speak, poor scattered mouth; I know.
-
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.