Harp of Wild

Voicing: SSA and piano
Text: Emily Bronte (1818-1848)
Published by: Cypress Choral Music (CP1862)
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Notes: This piece was the first-prize winner in the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors Composition Competition, 2004. First performed by the National Youth Choir, Timothy Shantz, conductor at Podium, Winnipeg, 2004.

Harp of wild and dreamlike strain,
When I touch thy strings,
Why dost thou repeat again
Long-forgotten things?

Harp, in other earlier days,
I could sing to thee;
And not one of all my lays
Vexed my memory.

But now, if I awake a note
That gave me joy before,
Sounds of sorrow from thee float,
Changing evermore.

Yet, still steeped in memory's dyes,
They come sailing on,
Darkening all my summer skies,
Shutting out my sun.
​ -Emily Jane Bronte

Performed by: Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, conductor. From: Parlez-Moi: The Music of Allan Bevan (2011).

Emily Bronte (1818-1848)

Marie Stultz wrote the following review in Spectrum Music's Spring 2005 Choral Newsletter:

Harp of Wild, by Allan Bevan, English text,
​Set to a text by Emily Brontë (1818-1848), this composition won the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors Composition Competition in 2004. Crossing voice parts and suspensions add to the atmospheres created in this music. Filled with numerous key changes and challenging rhythms, the piece would be tremendously successful with the accomplished woman's chorus. The lyrical counterpoint, in contrast to full homophonic sections on ever changing dynamics, makes the piece an artistic challenge. After some very complex writing in the middle section of the piece, it concludes simply in two and three parts with the second altos having the capability of singing a low e sharp. Difficulty rating 4-5.  

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