Sowash: opening movement of Cantata [The Harvest Quiet Eye] for SATB chorus

Now, this … “The Harvest of a Quiet Eye” is the name of one of my favorite books and also the name of my only extended work for soloists and chorus.  The author of this book, Odell Shepard, borrowed the title from a poem by Wordsworth:

The outward shows of sky and earth,
Of hill and valley he has viewed;
And impulses of deeper birth
Have come to him in solitude.

In common things that round us lie
Some random truths he can impart, --
The harvest of a quiet eye
That broods and sleeps on his own heart.

My cantata opens with a choral setting of those noble words.  What follows are settings of Shepard's account of his encounter with a grim Marsh-land, "livid with Death."  He dares to try to hear what the Marsh is "saying" to him; she asserts Nature's indifference to our brief human experiment and it nearly undoes him.  A message like that, if we really take it in, leads to despair.

Nevertheless, surprised, he finds himself remembering the “brave, high-hearted songs” his fellow human beings have sung and he rejoices in that memory and in the beauty of the dying autumn leaves that “go down trooping their colors and shouting hosannas."  He affirms our  human adventure all the more heartily and strides through what remains of his day’s hike (and, we feel, through what will remain of his life), "with high-hearted singing."

Today I'll share just the two-minute opening movement.  I think this sounds like an opening, a beginning.  From the git-go, it's expansive.  Something is astir.  Good things lie ahead.   It’s like the opening credits of a well-scored film.

The work is in twelve movements, several of which I plan to share with you in the future.  The work is scored for baritone (singing the role of Shepard, the hiker-narrator), soprano (the haunting voice of the Marsh-land), chorus (commenting on the action) and a miniature orchestra:  flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano.

To hear the opening movement of The Harvest Quiet Eye, in the premiere performance by the Cincinnati Camerata under the direction of Chris Miller, click here:
http://www.sowash.com/recordings/mp3/harvest_eye_i.mp3

To see a PDF of the score, click here:
http://www.sowash.com/recordings/mp3/harvest_eye_i.pdf

I'd love to know what you think about this music; reply if you're inclined.  But please don't feel that you are expected to reply.  I'm just glad to share my work in this way.

As always, feel free to forward this message to friends who might enjoy it.

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Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
Nov. 22, 2015
www.sowash.com
photo:   http://www.sowash.com/press/Sowash_Publicity_2015.jpg