The Gift to Sing
SKU:
It is indeed a gift to sing! Those of us fortunate enough to sing in, or direct, a choral ensemble, fully understand the power of music and singing - its power to heal, unite, connect, and transform. This piece is intended to be a celebration of singing, and all that is meaningful and fulfilling in being a part of a choral ensemble. This setting of the beautiful James Weldon Johnson poem, was written with flexibility and accessibility in mind - it is accessible to both young and more experienced treble voices. And, there are opportunities for groups to put their own personality and character into the piece with the opportunity for creativity in a spoken word and aleatoric section.
- Voicing: SA
- Instrumentation: piano accompaniment
- Text Author: James Weldon Johnson
- Duration: 4:30 minutes
- Publisher: Mysterium Music
TEXT
James Weldon Johnson
(1871-1938)
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day--
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
And I can sing.
(1871-1938)
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day--
I softly sing.
And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
And sing, and sing.
I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
And I can sing.