$2.50
Instrumentation: SATB Choir
(SSAA version available HERE)
Duration: 4:00
Commissioned by: (Original SSAA Version) Commissioned by the Chanteuses treble choir of Sacramento, directed by William Zinn
SATB Revoicing commissioned by The Stockton Chorale, directed by Nate Widelitz
Composer Visits available! – Book a 45-Minute Composer Visit with your Choir or School, including digital rehearsal visits, guest lectures, and Q & A sessions.
We Sang Before We Spoke, originally commissioned for SSAA Choir by the Chanteuses treble choir of Sacramento directed by William Zinn, set this celebratory text by Libby Weber. This SATB revoicing was commissioned by The Stockton Chorale directed by Nate Widelitz. The opening bright harmonies are designed to be acoustically vibrant when sung in a reverberant space, such as a stairwell, a parking lot, or a stone church. The conductor may adjust the length of rests after phrases, fermatas, and breath marks to account for the reverb in the space in which the piece is sung. The middle section (“we instruments refine”) contains a Baroque-inspired fugue, which allows each part to shine as the Subject and Countersubject material are passed among the ensemble. The piece concludes with the opening bright harmonies, which are arpeggiated downwards to allow for timbral nuances as each part moves through their range. The final line is reminiscent of the Fugue-like subject, which then cadences into a final resonant harmony, allowing for a reverberant ending.
This piece is suitable for any Mixed Voice Choir and would fit well on a concert about music or singing.
We sang before we spoke.
A melody in harmony with creation
Ringing through existence,
Bridging the distance
Between our souls.
We instruments refine
Air to breath and breath to words–
Transcending tongues through song.
The sum of ourselves,
Cast into eternity, returns transformed–
That which has perished,
Changed and cherished,
Welcomed home.
We sang before we spoke–
When words fail, we sing.
