Composing a setting of this famous poem, written around 1851 and published in 1867, has long been one of my objectives. This work needs a fairly large chorus of singers with excellent overall intonation, and the second basses comfortable with low E, but is otherwise only moderately challenging. The full eight-part texture is used in only one passage in the middle of the piece; but in writing for eight parts, the composer has a wide range of textures and tessiaturas – a desirable palette for this poem with its many shifting moods. The music is basically homophonic, tempo: cut time, half note = 37, then slower towards the end; duration about 8:20.
All my works are written in Sibelius, so fully professional scores are available in hard copy or PDF, and also mp3 demo files (keeping in mind that choral parts
are never more than “ooooo”s in Sibelius.
Please have a look at some of my other works on my ChoralNet page, and feel free to contact me directly at my email address below. for a complete list and other relevant information.
Regards, James Johnson
Williams BA ’64, Yale DMA ’78, organist in Adolphus Busch Hall at Harvard 1971-1991,
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