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Swifter Than Flame
for ssaa chorus
1/16
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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