IT IS HAPPINESS: a rare choral setting of incomparable poetry by Mary Oliver

As one of just a handful of composers to have ever received permission to work with Mary Oliver’s poetry, it is a joy and a privilege to finally release for worldwide distribution— 

It is Happiness, a choral suite for treble voices and instrumental chamber ensemble on three poems by Mary Oliver:

No.1  The Summer Day / No.2  Sunrise /  No. 3  Wild Geese

LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD

This 20 minute work may be performed with either if the following orchestrations:

•  fl, ob ,cl, hrn, bsn, vln(2), vc, pno  (original, as recorded)

•  fl, vn, vc, pno (reduced forces)

 The Summer Day is also available as a stand alone octavo for either SSA or SAB chorus with piano and flute obbligato accompaniment.

EXPLORE THE POEMS AND SCORES

I will always treasure my correspondence with Mary Oliver, one of America’s most significant and best loved poets. I was thrilled when she responded to the recording of the premiere performance with these words:

Just a note to tell you…that I have been listening to the tape of “It is Happiness” every morning for the past many mornings, in my car, early, on my way to the woods, and it has made me very happy. I like… its tenderness, its lushness, its entrenchment into the text… I like the certainty of the melodic line, and the play of it, its circling around.  

I like it … altogether.

Thank you, therefore.
Cordially,
Mary Oliver