Railways 1846
VIDEO
University of Illinois Oratorio Society and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra; Stephen Alltop, conductor
DURATION
2’
INSTRUMENTATION
men’s chorus (div.), piano
POET
Charles Mackay
YEAR COMPOSED
2014
COMMISSIONER
San Francisco Choral Society in collaboration with the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
THIS IS A MOVEMENT FROM:
Terra Nostra
ORDERING SCORES
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TEXT
Blessings on Science, and her handmaid Steam!
They make Utopia only half a dream;
And show the fervent, of capacious souls,
Who watch the ball of Progress as it rolls,
That all as yet completed, or begun,
Is but the dawning that precedes the sun.
Lay down your rails, ye nations, near and far —
Yoke your full trains to Steam's triumphal car;
Link town to town; unite in iron bands
The long-estranged and oft-embattled lands.
Peace, mild-eyed seraph — Knowledge, light divine,
Shall send their messengers by every line.