To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power
“To Soar” was premiered on June 3 and 9, 2018 in New York City by Accord Treble Choir, directed by Liz Geisewite. A live recording appears on Accord’s 2019 album Celestial & Terrestrial.
I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord’s June 2018 concert program “On Wings.” The piece squeezes plenty of excitement into its short duration, with frequently shifting tempos, meters, and keys; sliding pitches, active counterpoint, and plenty of word painting – including a soaring final fugato that I have come to think of as my “superhero fugue.”
| Difficulty: | Advanced Student, Advanced |
| Instrumentation: | A Cappella |
| Descriptive Tags: | American, Birds, Flight, Freedom, Nature, Poetry |
| Duration: | 1-5 Minutes |
| Language: | English |
| Sacred or Secular: | Secular |
| Voicing: | SSA |
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