The Gift to Sing
2021

ca. 5.5'

SSAA and piano

Text: James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)

Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,

And blackening clouds about me cling;

But, oh, I have a magic way

To turn the gloom to cheerful day—

I softly sing.

And if the way grows darker still,

Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,

With glad defiance in my throat,

I pierce the darkness with a note,

And sing, and sing.

I brood not over the broken past,

Nor dread whatever time may bring;

No nights are dark, no days are long,

While in my heart there swells a song,

And I can sing.

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A swirling setting of James Weldon Johnson's timeless words. Contains many time signature changes, but is still accessible for intermediate and advanced choirs of varying ages.

The Gift to Sing was composed between September and October of 2020, and revised in late 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus silenced singers, choirs, and performers around the world, I found James W. Johnson’s text to be a timely reminder of the power of song in the face of adversity. Whether created in the collective embrace of an ensemble, or in the intimate glow of solitude, music is a soul-nourishing, life changing, and irreplaceable gift that we are unbelievably fortunate to enjoy.

Written for and premiered in April 2022 by the Nazareth University Treble Choir in Rochester, NY.

The Gift to Sing 2021

The Gift to Sing
2021