ME = Moderately Easy
M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
D = Difficult
Climb (Edna St. Vincent Millay)
SSATB, piano - SEA-059-01 - $3.00/copy5 minutes - MD Commissioned by Cedarburg High School Choir, Darciann Ketter conductor "[This song] represents the struggle to let go of that which we hold most dear, in an effort to encourage further growth and discovery." -Darciann Ketter, Cedarburg News "Climb" took me on a musical journey, from the somewhat dissonant beginning...through the ascending lines powerfully urging the falcon to climb into the stratosphere. The last notes of the piano do not even resolve (which would bring the feeling of the piece back down to earth); rather, the falcon is allowed to continue climbing beyond the bounds of the song." -Brett Hanisko, singer, Cedarburg High School Choir (Cedarburg, WI) "Thank you for giving the altos so many great notes! I felt (and my fellow altos agreed) that during some measures, our notes really made the chord." -Katie Hamblin, alto, Cedarburg High School Choir "I absolutely loved singing my part, the tenor part; it was an awesome part that gave us an excellent chance to showcase our section." -Mike Dixon, tenor, Cedarburg High School Choir
In Edna St. Vincent Millays poem, On Thought in Harness, a falcons timidness reflects our own reluctance to embrace freedom and risk. This rapturous setting of Millays words gradually ascends into extravagant flight, with contemplative solos, a lustrous piano part, and soaring vocal lines.
Climb - recording (excerpt)
(Performed by University of Washington Chorale ~ Giselle Wyers, conductor)
(Performed by University of Washington Chorale ~ Giselle Wyers, conductor)
On Thought In Harness
My falcon to my wrist
Returns
From no high air.
I sent her toward the sun that burns
Above the mist;
But she has not been there.
Her talons are not cold; her beak
Is closed upon no wonder;
Her head stinks of its hood, her feathers reek
Of me, that quake at the thunder.
Degraded bird, I give you back your eyes forever, ascend now whither you are tossed;
Forsake this wrist, forsake this rhyme;
Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart, be lost,
But climb.
From Wine From These Grapes, © 1934, 1962 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor for the Millay Society.
My falcon to my wrist
Returns
From no high air.
I sent her toward the sun that burns
Above the mist;
But she has not been there.
Her talons are not cold; her beak
Is closed upon no wonder;
Her head stinks of its hood, her feathers reek
Of me, that quake at the thunder.
Degraded bird, I give you back your eyes forever, ascend now whither you are tossed;
Forsake this wrist, forsake this rhyme;
Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart, be lost,
But climb.
From Wine From These Grapes, © 1934, 1962 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor for the Millay Society.
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