(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.)
I Hear America Singing by James Johnson for SATB, clarinet and organ (Click here for PDF and here for AUDIO)
Level: Advanced High School or Higher
Uses: General Concert Use
Program Themes: Fate, Overcoming Adversity
This Piece Would Program Well With: This Is My Song by Jean Sibelius/Wagner from JWPepper and SheetMusicPlus
This is happy red, white and blue music through and through and perfect for the July 4 weekend. The text is by Walt Whitman and speaks of many professions in the early American economy. Delightful clarinet and organ ritornelli are interspersed among mixed voice and single section vocal parts. If you have a Bass Clarinet, Bassoon or Cello they can play the Basso Continuo along with the realized harmony for the organ or just let the organist pedal.
I Hear America Singing is available from the composer.
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