Our City (SSAA Choir)
Our City (SSAA Choir)
A reflective and simple work with lyrical melodies that sit perfectly in the female voice. The instrumental accompaniment highlights the rich harmonies and timbres.
Pricing
Printed Choral Octavo: $3.15
Digital PDF Choral Octavo: $3.15
Printed Conductor Score + Instrumental Parts: $89
Printed Conductor Score + Digital PDF Instrumental Parts: $89
Details
SSAA Women's Choir and Piano (with Opt. Harp, Oboe, and Two Percussion)
Year of Composition: 2016
Length: 8:00
Program Note
My wife and I feel fortunate to call Rochester, NY our home.
It is a small, vibrant city where we met and where we have started a life together. Our house sits on hill, just steps from a city forest. If you walk about 10 minutes through the forest, you arrive at the top of Cobbs Hill, which overlooks the city skyline. It is a beautiful spot to look out on the city that has become our home - first as graduate students, and now as a married couple with a house and a dog.
At the top of Cobbs Hill, we look out over the city and remember the apartments we lived in, the many times we have strolled along those streets (in all seasons), and all the memories we have made here. And we think about the future of this city, our home, and all the memories we will make together in the years to come. We are grateful for this place, our city.
I asked my wife, Ashley if she would write a text for this piece, giving her only the theme of the concert as a guide - Urban Landscapes. It was she who came up with the idea of creating a piece about our home city. We have collaborated in this way numerous times, and like many of Ashley’s poems, “Our City” is succinct, minimalist, and vivid in its imagery.
In the music, I tried to complement the vivid words with simple, direct music that would allow the words to speak through. The piece was commissioned by a consortium of schools led by Florida International University professors Brenton Alston and Kathryn Longo.
Grade 5
A work for large choir and wind ensemble that uses the metaphor of a sunrise to evoke the rise of the American West. Commissioned by the University of Nevada, Reno in celebration of its 150th anniversary.