Composer: Michael T RobertsDetailsFormat: Treble VoicesVoicing: SSAAccompaniment: unaccompaniedNotation: standardPerformance Length: 2:45 Study Scores & Audio FilesStudy Score & Audio Order Printed ScoresOrder site / Alternate source of score: mike@hotmike.com Texts & TranslationsLanguage(s): EnglishText Source: Walt WhitmanText: I have not so much emulated the birds that musically sing, I have abandon’d myself to flights, broad circles. The hawk, the seagull, have far more possess’d me than the canary or mocking-bird. I have not felt to warble and trill, however sweetly, I have felt to soar in freedom and in the fullness of power, joy, volition. Programming AidsPerformance Difficulty: difficultDescriptive Terms: wingsbirdssoaringfugaldynamicAllow Excerpts: Composition is a single movementComposer’s Notes: I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord Treble Choir's June 2018 concert program, "On Wings" (NYC). The piece squeezes plenty of excitement into its short duration, with frequently shifting tempos, meters, and keys; sliding pitches, active counterpoint, and plenty of word painting— including a soaring final fugato that I have come to think of as my "superhero fugue." Additional InformationDate of Completion: October, 2017Date of First Performance: Sunday, June 3, 2018Premier Performance Data: Accord Treble Choir (Liz Geisewite, cond), St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, NYAdditional Performances: December 2018: Dessoff Choirs, dir. Malcolm Merriweather, NYC
