If I Can Sing, I Still am Free
2016 Idaho All-State, 2018 Arkansas All-State selection
“If I Can Sing, I Still Am Free” was the winner of the San Diego choir SACRA/PROFANA’s 2014 composition competition. It’s an ideal piece for festivals and large ensembles, with a text that champions inner strength in the face of adversity. It has quickly become one of Campbell’s most performed works, performed by high school, collegiate, and community & professional ensembles.
Here’s what SACRA/PROFANA director, Krishan Oberoi, had to say about the piece: “We were struck by Rich Campbell’s unconventional approach to Sara Teasdale’s poem, ‘Refuge’. Rich’s setting of the text represents a radical departure from almost all other choral settings of the poem. Campbell eschews an introspective interpretation of the poem (which seems like the natural response to Teasdale’s pensive text), favoring instead a brash, declamatory setting which mirrors the composer’s own contemporary urban environment. The musical language reflects Campbell’s eclectic musical influences, incorporating strains of jazz, musical theater, and balletic composers like Stravinsky in a propulsive union that carries the listener forward to a rousing climax of human affirmation.“
| Descriptive Tags: | Inspiration, Music About Music, Poetry, Singing |
| Difficulty: | Intermediate |
| Season or Event: | Graduation |
| Instrumentation: | Piano |
| Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
| Duration: | 1-5 Minutes |
| Voicing: | SATB |
| Language: | English |
$2.50
This title is available in print or for immediate download. For both options, there is a minimum required quantity of 8 copies for choral titles. Please support self-publishing composers by ordering the quantity according to the number of singers in the ensemble that will perform the work.
Print orders are printed on demand and shipped by our printing partner, and can be expected to be processed within a few days of the order. Please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] to follow up.
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| TTBB | 3'15" | English | When I first discovered Charles Bernstein’s beautiful poem, I knew immediately that I wanted to set it for men’s chorus. The poem expresses so much within a brief, 4-verse form. I set out to use harmony to color the text’s rich imagery while honoring the poem’s lyrical and repetitive nature in the melody. The surprising […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| An original song the lovingly evokes images of the Golden State. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This energetic setting of Gloria in excelsis Deo, from the Latin Mass, opens with rhythmic patterns that enhance the text. Midway through, the chorus softly occults between two simple chords under an alto then baritone soloists. The opening patterns return before a fugal section at the text “cum santo spiritu.” The final Amen is another […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This is a tuneful, contemporary setting of a multi-verse carol for choir a cappella using an original melody. It starts with a statement by the alto section and gradually adds parts and harmonic variations. The unusual time signature of 5/4 provides a lilt and propels the piece forward. All parts sing the melody along the […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Originally written for a Portuguese children’s choir, this simple a cappella setting could equally be performed by an adult women’s choir. It is mostly in two parts (SA), but there is an optional 3rd part towards the end of the piece. The first few measures may be sung as a solo. Translation: “Not unto us, […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| SATB a cappella settings of three ancient Latin texts in a style reminiscent of Renaissance polyphony, but mixing dissonant and tonal harmonies in a challenging but singable texture. Melodies are often disjunct, even passing from section to section, but always lyrical and poignantly expressive. De castitatis thalamo, virgo virginum, and Ave Maria. Ave Maria also […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| “World’s Fair” is a setting of Jenna Goldsmith’s evocative poem, written in four haiku stanzas that correlate not only to the seasons, but also to her ancestors. The score is for 8 voices, and includes finger snaps, hand claps & foot stomps. The work opens joyfully in spring, summer begins as a work song that […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||