ME = Moderately Easy
M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
D = Difficult
Folks I'm Telling You (Langston Hughes)
SSATB, piano - SEA-027-00 - $4.50/copy4 minutes - MD Written for Common Chords Chorus of Ithaca, NY "I just read through "Folks". What a kick-ass piece of music that is!! I can't wait for us to do it. I think you're brilliant...Thank you for offering it to the world!" -Jason Shelton, Music Director, First Unitarian Universalist Church, Nashville, TN
Langston Hughes' short, sassy poem, "Advice," contains an irresistible combination of hard truth and deep love, evident in this song's driving, straight-ahead rhythms, edgy jazz harmonies, and soulful, blues-inflected lines. Not your typical "jazzy" choral tune, this song contains unusual modulations, a creative formal structure, and rich close-harmony chords whose complexity reflects both pain and joy.
The challenging piano part is idiomatically gratifying, a showpiece for a strong player. The song also contains several optional solos. Soprano I: c'-f", Soptano II: c'-e", Alto: a-c", Tenor: c-e ', Bass: F-d'
To view the score, click here
To hear a recorded excerpt, click here (2.8 MB)
(MP3, 2.8 MB, performed by University of Michigan Chorus ~ Paul Rardin, conductor)
(MP3, 2.8 MB, performed by University of Michigan Chorus ~ Paul Rardin, conductor)
Folks I'm Telling You
Advice
Folks, I'm telling you,
birthing is hard
and dying is mean -
so get yourself
a little loving
in between.
© 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
Advice
Folks, I'm telling you,
birthing is hard
and dying is mean -
so get yourself
a little loving
in between.
© 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
View and play the score
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If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click to download the Scorch plug-in.
If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click to download the Scorch plug-in.