I Have Got My Leave (SATB/unaccomp)
I have got my leave was initially composed for the Louisiana State University Chamber Singers in 2010 while I was completing my coursework for a Doctor of Musical Arts. I edited and reworked the composition for my choir at Delta State University in 2013. I have been very fond of the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore since discovering his texts from the choral compositions of Vytautas Miškinis of Lithuania. The text, I have got my leave, is from the book Gitanjali (Song Offerings). This award winning book of poems by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) helped him win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the keys of my door — and I give up all claims to my house.
I only ask for last kind words from you.
We were neighbours for long,
but I received more than I could give.
Now the day has dawned
and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out.
A summons has come
and I am ready for my journey.
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