(Each week we look at one or two of the best choral works posted in the Composition Showcase here on ChoralNet. This is where we store a treasure trove of works that your choirs will love to sing and your audiences will love to hear.)
Level: High School advanced or higher
Uses: Winter Concert
Program Themes: Winter, Snow, Rivers, Water Cycle, Nature
This Piece Would Program Well With: Negra Sum by Pablo Casals available from JWPepper
Sometimes the story behind a piece can be as exciting and tantalizing as the work itself. Sharing such stories with our singers can inspire them to lend every bit of their being to a performance. As I followed link after link in writing this article I was introduced to remarkable people dedicating their lives to the arts.
The text for Reflections was written by an 11 year old girl as part of River of Words. The Center of Environmental Literacy at St. Mary College of California, hosts River of Words and many projects designed to teach young people to express their experiences in nature through poetry and art. The author of the text is Lyndsay Ryder Perez who grew up to get her masters in Special Education and help alternately enabled people as a Life Skills Coordinator.
Dale Trumbore was asked to set Perez’s words to music as part of the Youth Inspiring Youth Composer Competition given by the women’s chorus WomenSing.
I invite you to follow the links above to learn about an incredible network of artist and programs that created this week’s honored work.
Reflections is a very moving work with a plethora of musical images and representations. Sounds of rivers and creeks are represented with flowing accompaniment in rich harmony. Chords in the left hand are repeated high in the right as if they were reflections in the water. For an excellent and more in-depth description visit the website of the commissioning choir.
Reflections is available from the composer’s website: http://daletrumbore.com/Composer/purchase.html
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