Hope Is the Thing with Feathers (SATB + piano)--CHORAL
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$1.25
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Emily Dickinson is one of our foremost American poets, living and dying close to her home in Amherst, Massachusetts. Dickinson celebrated some notoriety as a poet during her lifetime, but the secret of her genius was discovered after her death when her sister, Lavinia, uncovered a large cache of her poems in their family home. Quirky and imaginative, this curious and profound recluse turned out poems that transcended her immediate surroundings, offering spiritual guidance to those who would take the time to read her work.
This setting of Hope is the thing with feathers began as an attractive text with images that begged for music. Dickinson describes “hope” as a bird whose very character can withstand the “strangest sea”, storms, and be tested to “extremity”. The lush harmonies and flitting piano accompaniment try to capture the elusive, intangible, and virtuous qualities of Dickinson’s HOPE/BIRD in a way that makes the voices soar. Quite by accident, I placed “hope” and “bird” on the same downbeat and was amused by the happy coincidence!
--Mary Ellen Haupert (July 25, 2013)
This setting of Hope is the thing with feathers began as an attractive text with images that begged for music. Dickinson describes “hope” as a bird whose very character can withstand the “strangest sea”, storms, and be tested to “extremity”. The lush harmonies and flitting piano accompaniment try to capture the elusive, intangible, and virtuous qualities of Dickinson’s HOPE/BIRD in a way that makes the voices soar. Quite by accident, I placed “hope” and “bird” on the same downbeat and was amused by the happy coincidence!
--Mary Ellen Haupert (July 25, 2013)
