I Go Among Trees

for SATB choir and Marimba

Written: 2019
Duration: 15'
Instrumentation: SATB choir (with divisis, SSAATTBB) and marimba (5-octaves)
Commissioned by the New Amsterdam Singers, Clara Longstreth, Music Director, in honor of the chorus’ 50th Anniversary and the 65th Birthday of Barbara Zucker-Pinchoff.
World Premieres: New Amsterdam Singers, Broadway Presbyterian Church, New York, NY, December 10 and 12, 2021.
PublisherBill Holab Music

View Score | View Marimba Part | Buy Sheet Music | Score and Part Practice MIDI MP3s

PROGRAM NOTe

Perhaps because I have fond memories of hiking in the Adirondack Mountains when I was young, I have always been drawn to forests and meadows. There is something deeply satisfying about spending time among trees, meadows, and in nature, and away from the urban environment. I Go Among Trees consists of settings of three poems that celebrate this terrain, and the poets I chose all express a profound affection for the natural world in their writings.

The first movement, I Go Among Trees, is a setting of a poem from a book of poetry entitled A Timbered Choir by Wendell Berry. In this contemplative, zen-like poem, Berry expresses the meditative feelings of being alone among the trees, and of being afraid and experiencing fear, all while using the metaphor of singing and songs to express a connection to both the outside world and feelings inside oneself. By the end of the poem, the narrator is able to let go and is at peace with these feelings.

The second movement, March in New England, is based on the poem of the same name by May Sarton. The scene describes the transition from the colder, harsher months of winter, to the greener, more colorful months of spring. The words in the final stanza, with the image of rushing “to break the trees open” and the “torrents of English spring” help to provide a climactic ending to the movement.

The poem for the final movement, The Kestrel, is by the English poet John Frederick Freeman, and was suggested to me by Barbara Zucker-Pinchoff. Barbara liked the poem because it reminded her of the meadows around her family’s country house, and specifically of the kestrels that take up residence there. The percussive sounds the choir makes reminds me of kestrels flapping their wings. Barbara was kind enough to invite me and my family out to her house, so I saw the meadow with my own eyes, and this helped provide inspiration.

I Go Among Trees was commissioned by the New Amsterdam Singers, Clara Longstreth, Music Director, in honor of the chorus’ 50th Anniversary and the 65th Birthday of Barbara Zucker-Pinchoff.