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Swifter Than Flame

for ssaa chorus

There Was a Time inside music_edited.jpg

for SSAA chorus and piano

Also Available SATB

Poem by Carl John Bostelmann
Elaine Hagenberg Music - EH1023

Description

Swifter Than Flame invites singers to explore the vast unknown in exhilarating ascent! Rapidly layered vocal entrances and racing sixteenth notes in the piano propel the journey, while text painting lends itself to expressive phrasing. With a brief reflective section of awe and wonder, this dramatic concert selection concludes with a final adventurous launch into “timeless flight!”
00:00 / 03:52


the Inspiration

Text

Swifter than flame, prevailing tempests race Along the lifted steel that bars their way. From solid street up to the shore of space, Each granite edifice transcends the day. Tower on tower reach a final rung From which winged feet step upward out of night– To find again forgotten planets hung In orbits measuring a timeless flight. - Carl John Bostelmann

Composer Notes

Swifter Than Flame was inspired by the poetry of John Carl Bostelman, which vividly describes an exhilarating journey into the unknown. The composition features layered vocal entrances that create a sense of ascent, as if the music is climbing toward new possibilities. Through text painting, especially with the phrase “upward into night,” I aimed to capture the awe and wonder of pushing beyond the limits of imagination. The racing rhythms of the piano accompaniment propel the music forward, launching the choir into an orbit of sound that evokes a thrilling sense of discovery. I hope singers feel the excitement of exploring the uncharted and realize their boundless potential if they dare to explore beyond the familiar.
“Swifter than flame
prevailing tempests race...
measuring a timeless flight.”

- Carl John Bostelmann

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