Composer: Carol BarnettDetailsFormat: Treble VoicesVoicing: SSAAccompaniment: keyboardInstrumentation: pianoNotation: standardPerformance Length: 3:45 Study Scores & Audio FilesStudy Score & Audio Order Printed ScoresOrder site / Alternate source of score: www.carolbarnett.net Texts & TranslationsLanguage(s): EnglishText Source: Wendell BerryText: from Wendell Berry's essay “Healing.” …we clasp the hands of those who go before us, and the hands of those who come after us; we enter the little circle of each other’s arms, and the larger circle of lovers whose hands are joined in a dance, and the larger circle of all creatures, passing in and out of life, who move also in a dance, to a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it except in fragments. Programming AidsPerformance Difficulty: moderately easySeasonal Usage: SpringThanksgivingMemorial ServicesDescriptive Terms: dancelifejoyfulinterconnectednessAllow Excerpts: Composition is a single movementComposer’s Notes: We Clasp the Hands was written for the Aurora Chorus of Portland, Oregon, to celebrate the group as a welcoming and empowering community as well as marking their 25th Anniversary. I am indebted to Artistic Director Joan Szymko for finding the perfect text; it is excerpted from Wendell Berry’s poetic essay “Healing,” found in his volume What Are People For? Ancestors and descendants, friends and lovers, all creatures, moving in and out of life in a dance, “to a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it except in fragments.” The piano keeps the beat; the voices weave in and out in a joyful three-voice texture. Additional InformationDate of Completion: October, 2016Date of First Performance: Sunday, May 21, 2017Premier Performance Data: Aurora Chorus ( Joan Szymko, cond), First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1126 Southwest Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97205
