SATB, a cappella

When Dr. Kevin Coker approached me about collaborating on a choral song cycle, we talked through many different themes that we felt might tie a set of pieces together.  In a previous work, Color Madrigals, I had used the color wheel and texts by John Keats as a jumping-off point so, for this new cycle, we entertained various ways to do the same.  The idea we hit upon that we thought might yield something interesting was a song cycle based around something entirely quotidian (literally): the days of the week.  We sometimes see the week as a thing to make it through, but momentous events like the first atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima and man’s first steps on the surface of the moon happened, boringly enough, on a Monday.  But more personal stories—falling in love, having a child, losing a parent—can also happen to us no matter what day of the week it is.  Thus, Songs for Seven Days was born.

To that end, I searched for texts that mentioned each day of the week and came up with some beautifully diverse offerings.  For the fourth movement, I found an exquisite text by Emily Dickinson which finds the poet musing in her trademark voice.

Songs for Seven Days was commissioned by the Blue Valley Northwest High School Chamber Singers (Dr. Kevin Coker, conductor) for their performance at the 2014 Kansas Music Educators Convention.

Note: Bright Wednesday Afternoons is the fourth movement of Songs for Seven Days. It can be purchased and performed separately.

The Text

I never felt at Home—Below

            by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

I never felt at Home—Below—
And in the Handsome Skies
I shall not feel at Home—I know—
I don't like Paradise—

Because it's Sunday—all the time—
And Recess—never comes—
And Eden’ll be so lonesome
Bright Wednesday Afternoons—

If God could make a visit—
Or ever took a Nap—
So not to see us—but they say
Himself—a Telescope

Perennial beholds us—
Myself would run away
From Him—and Holy Ghost—and All—
But there's the “Judgement Day”!