In this short Life
For a cappella SATB Choir (2017)
Duration: c. 5 mins
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PROJECT : ENCORE™ has found this work to be of exceptional merit. Its panel of internationally known conductors has selected this work for inclusion in its catalog of recommended choral music. More information on this piece on its page in the PROJECT : ENCORE™ database.
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In this short Life was composed in the fall of 2017 while I was living in Walpole, NH. It was written for the inaugural Stephen Paulus Emerging Composer Competition and won The Capital Hearings 2018 Young Composers Competition. It is a setting of two short poems by Emily Dickinson:
In this short Life
that only (merely) lasts an hour
how much—how
little—is
within our
power
and:
Look back
on Time
with kindly
Eyes—
He doubtless
did his best—
How softly
sinks his
trembling Sun
in Human
Nature's West—
By repeating sections and creating an arch form, where the two poems are presented in order followed by the stanzas in reverse order (“In this short Life”, “Look back”, and “He doubtless” followed by “Look back” and finally “In this short Life”), I was able to extend the poems into a five-minute meditation focusing on the transience and preciousness of life and what one can (or can't) accomplish within it.
Winner, The Capital Hearings 2018 Young Composers Competition
Finalist, 2018 Stephen Paulus Emerging Composer Competition
Premiered September 15, 2018 by The Capital Hearings, Michael Rowan-director, in Washington, D.C.
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