Choral Suite from A NEW EAARTH
for SATB Chorus and Piano
Written: 2012
Duration: 14'
Instrumentation: SATB chorus and piano
Commissioned by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Association in conjunction with a three-year Music Alive residency; funded by New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras.
World Premiere: Vermont Youth Orchestra and Chorus, Jeffrey Domoto, conductor, Bill McKibben, narrator, May 4 & 6, 2012.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
View Score | Buy Sheet Music | Buy Choral Suite Audio
Also Available: A New Eaarth for orchestra, chorus and narrator
PROGRAM NOTE
Although I have lived in cities most of my life, I do not think of myself as a city person and have always felt more connected to the outdoors rather than to asphalt and tall buildings. Many of my works are inspired by nature, and I am deeply concerned about environmental issues, particularly climate change.
Of the many excellent books on the environment, one of the best and the one that moves me most is Eaarth by Bill McKibben, a famed author, educator and environmentalist. McKibben’s assertion is that we have waited too long, and that massive climate change is not only unavoidable, but already underway. He states that we may as well call this new planet Eaarth, because it is still recognizable, but fundamentally different. I feel strongly that he is correct, and wanted to express this in a musical way. A work for orchestra, chorus and narrator seemed like the ideal vehicle for reflecting on this critical issue.
Choral Suite from A New Eaarth consists of the four choral movements from A New Eaarth for orchestra, but with piano rather than orchestra. I designed these movements so they could be performed as a stand-alone suite, and in fact, for the purpose of rehearsals, I composed the choir and piano versions first, and then orchestrated them so they could be integrated into the whole orchestral work.
The suite includes texts by Wendell Berry, James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth. The poems, at least as part of the entire orchestral version, allude to the four ancient classical elements—earth, air, fire and water—a theme that permeates many of my other works.
A New Eaarth was commissioned by the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association through a Music Alive! residency grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras.
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Choral Suite from A New Eaarth
Rough Wind
Text from A Dirge by Percy Bysshe ShelleyRough wind, that moanest loud
Grief too sad for song;
Wild wind, when sullen cloud
Knells all the night long;
Sad storm whose tears are vain,
Bare woods, whose branches strain,
Deep caves and dreary main,—
Wail, for the world’s wrong!Based on A Dirge by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1824). Text in the public domain.
The Noise of Waters
Text from All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters by James JoyceAll day I hear the noise of water
Making moan,
Sad as the sea-bird is when, going
Forth alone,
He hears the winds cry to the water’s
Monotone.The grey winds, the cold winds are blowing
Where I go.
I hear the noise of many waters
Far below.
All day, all night, I hear them flowing
To and fro.Text based on All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters (1907) by James Joyce. Text in the public domain.
A Timbered Choir
Text from A Timbered Choir by Wendell BerryEvery place had been displaced, every love
unloved, every vow unsworn, every word unmeant
to make way for the passage of the crowd
of the individuated, the autonomous, the self-actuated, the homeless
with their many eyes opened toward the objective
which they did not yet perceive in the far distance,
having never known where they were going,
having never known where they came from.Text based on A Timbered Choir © 2005 by Wendell Berry. Permission granted to reprint text from Counterpoint Press.
There Was A Time
Text from There Was A Time by William WordsworthThere was a time when meadow, grove and stream,
The earth and every common sight
To me did seem
Apparell’d in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.The rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the rose;
The moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where’er I go,
That there hath pass’d away a glory from the earth.Text based on There Was A Time from Ode: Intimations of Immortality (1804) by William Wordsworth. Text in the public domain.
Press Quotes
“[A New Eaarth] proved a grand statement about the dangers of climate change... the 30-minute work decries the current situation yet offers hope... The score employed myriad musical effects—including a substantial percussion section—that illustrated the libretto. More than that, with the chorus, it was an amazingly colorful tone poem... the music was beautifully crafted. There was immense power in parts, pathos in others. The VYO and Chorus clearly enjoyed every second of it, performing with passion and skill.”
“[A New Eaarth] is quite powerful—it gets at the essential scientific truth of the moment, the sudden and violent flux of the physical world as the 10,000 years of the calm Holocene comes resoundingly to an end. A very inspiring piece, and people left ready to take action...”
“I’ll be honest... I didn’t see how it would all work: narration of not just glum but (I mis-assumed) fairly technical language, plus youth chorus, which I knew would limit your harmonic options, and orchestra, all on a shortened rehearsal schedule. But it was awesome! The recitativo style choruses made a beautiful and effective link between all the other elements. You wrote beautifully for the group—challenging but stuff that they could really get. The final chorus rhythm is both beautiful and catchy—it’s an ear-worm, but in a good way—which is not only great in itself but great in an ending, leaving it in your mind after the piece is over. The audience seemed really moved. I heard the people around me, who were parents and boosters and obviously not going to dump all over the piece no matter what, but they were clearly pleasantly surprised and impressed.”