Voices of Earth

Voicing: SSA and piano
Text: Archibald Lampman (1861-1899)
Published by: Cypress Choral Music
Retail: The Leading Note

Voices of Earth was commissioned by Ariose Women's Choir, Jolaine Kerley, artistic director. First performed by them in Edmonton, April 26th, 2019. Listen to their fine recording on the Cypress website.

Voices of Earth
We have not heard the music of the spheres,
The song of star to star, but there are sounds
More deep than human joy and human tears,
That Nature uses in her common rounds;
The fall of streams, the cry of winds that strain
The oak, the roaring of the sea’s surge, might
Of thunder breaking afar off, or rain
That falls by minutes in the summer night.
These are the voices of earth’s secret soul,
Uttering the mystery from which she came.
To him who hears them grief beyond control,
Or joy inscrutable without a name,
Wakes in his heart thoughts bedded there, impearled,
Before the birth and making of the world. ​

Sample: