Visions
Steven Paxton’s VISIONS for SATB choir is a moving setting of the poem by Wisconsin poet Charlotte A. Cote: “You catch sometimes a glimpse of forever — a lake… .” It was commissioned by Paul Rusterholz and the La Crosse Chamber Chorale in celebration of the 1998 Wisconsin Sesquicentennial. Two versions are available, one with piano accompaniment, and the other with English horn (or soprano saxophone), cello, and percussion.
| Descriptive Tags: | American, Earth Week, Forest, Fruitful Earth, Nature, River, Stream, trees, Water |
| Difficulty: | Advanced Student, Advanced |
| Duration: | 1-5 Minutes, 5-10 Minutes |
| Language: | English |
| Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
| Season or Event: | Autumn, Concert, Thanksgiving |
| Voicing: | SATB |
| Instrumentation: | Cello, Cor anglais, optional piano, Percussion |
$2.00 – $3.00Price range: $2.00 through $3.00
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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Title | View | Voicing | Duration | Language | Composer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| SATB | 4' | English | A setting of Robert Frost’s metaphorical rendering of feelings of depression, isolation and alienation. Rhythmic and thought-provoking. Medium difficulty, appropriate for high school, collegiate and community choirs. Commissioned by Penn High School Choirs, IN. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A setting of Robert Frost’s metaphorical rendering of feelings of depression, isolation and alienation. Rhythmic and thought-provoking. Medium difficulty, appropriate for high school, collegiate and community choirs. Commissioned by Penn High School Choirs, IN. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB ⋅ SSATTBB ⋅ Unison | 6' 30" | English | ‘Rejoice! A Christmas Fanfare’ was written as the opening number for a series of four Christmas Concerts held in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in December 2015. As a number of youth choirs and a community chorus were taking part in these concerts, they were all involved individually and jointly in the piece, which was built […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ‘Rejoice! A Christmas Fanfare’ was written as the opening number for a series of four Christmas Concerts held in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall in December 2015. As a number of youth choirs and a community chorus were taking part in these concerts, they were all involved individually and jointly in the piece, which was built […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 10' 15" | English ⋅ Latin | Gloria in D was premièred in December 2014 by the Bel Canto Chorus, Milwaukee in their ‘Christmas in the Basilica’ concerts. It is written for a large chorus, soprano soloist, brass ensemble, consisting of three trumpets and three trombones, timpani and organ. Richard Hynson, who conducted the première in Milwaukee, writes: “As music Director of […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gloria in D was premièred in December 2014 by the Bel Canto Chorus, Milwaukee in their ‘Christmas in the Basilica’ concerts. It is written for a large chorus, soprano soloist, brass ensemble, consisting of three trumpets and three trombones, timpani and organ. Richard Hynson, who conducted the première in Milwaukee, writes: “As music Director of […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 3'30" | English | The text for How Can I Keep from Singing was written by members of the Derventio Choir of Allestree, Derbyshire, England, and Steven Paxton’s setting was composed for the competition celebrating that choir’s 30th anniversary. Moderate tempo a cappella sections alternate with fast, rhythmically driving sections mixing 6/8 and 5/8 meters. The piano accompaniment is […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The text for How Can I Keep from Singing was written by members of the Derventio Choir of Allestree, Derbyshire, England, and Steven Paxton’s setting was composed for the competition celebrating that choir’s 30th anniversary. Moderate tempo a cappella sections alternate with fast, rhythmically driving sections mixing 6/8 and 5/8 meters. The piano accompaniment is […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 4'50" | English | This arrangement opens by lining out the plainsong chant over a drone. Then, in succeeding verses we hear it in organum before more complex harmonies and rhythms are added. Finally all voices sing the melody in canon before a concluding fantasia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This arrangement opens by lining out the plainsong chant over a drone. Then, in succeeding verses we hear it in organum before more complex harmonies and rhythms are added. Finally all voices sing the melody in canon before a concluding fantasia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SSAATTBB | 5' 15" | Finnish ⋅ Vocables | In Runo XIV of the Kalevala, Lemminkäinen hunts the black swan that lives on the river of Tuoni in the underworld in order to win a daughter of Louhi as his wife. While searching for the swan, he is killed and his body is dumped into the river. In Runo XV, Lemminkäinen’s mother searches all […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In Runo XIV of the Kalevala, Lemminkäinen hunts the black swan that lives on the river of Tuoni in the underworld in order to win a daughter of Louhi as his wife. While searching for the swan, he is killed and his body is dumped into the river. In Runo XV, Lemminkäinen’s mother searches all […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 3'30" | English | This is a straightforward setting for choir and organ/keyboard of an Appalachian carol found by John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. He discovered this carol in Mayfield, Kentucky in 1933. Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is a straightforward setting for choir and organ/keyboard of an Appalachian carol found by John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. He discovered this carol in Mayfield, Kentucky in 1933. Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 2'30" | English | This sweet and gentle setting of a classic Southern Harmony hymn features the Alto section in its first verse, then opens out into a joyful depiction of the sensation of flight. The second verse features birdcalls in the piano accompaniment. Recording by First Readings Project. Find the SSAA version of this piece here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This sweet and gentle setting of a classic Southern Harmony hymn features the Alto section in its first verse, then opens out into a joyful depiction of the sensation of flight. The second verse features birdcalls in the piano accompaniment. Recording by First Readings Project. Find the SSAA version of this piece here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 4' | English | “Thou God” is the title of a text by Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-general of the United Nations from 1953 to 1961. A deeply moving and personal faith statement, it is set here as an anthem for mixed choir and organ. Hammarskjöld’s book Markings, from which this text comes, is an enduring spiritual classic still widely read […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “Thou God” is the title of a text by Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-general of the United Nations from 1953 to 1961. A deeply moving and personal faith statement, it is set here as an anthem for mixed choir and organ. Hammarskjöld’s book Markings, from which this text comes, is an enduring spiritual classic still widely read […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATB | 1' | English | Emily Dickinson’s short and quippy poem, “To make a prairie” has a great depth of meaning despite its brevity, in its portrayal of the power of imagination. This setting captures the broad sweep of the prairie landscape in its bright opening chords, and the dreamy state of imagnining in a shimmering but intensifying middle section, […] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emily Dickinson’s short and quippy poem, “To make a prairie” has a great depth of meaning despite its brevity, in its portrayal of the power of imagination. This setting captures the broad sweep of the prairie landscape in its bright opening chords, and the dreamy state of imagnining in a shimmering but intensifying middle section, […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||