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The Music of Stillness

There Was a Time inside music_edited.jpg

for SATB Chorus and Piano

Text by Sara Teasdale
Oxford University Press - 9780193517929

Description

Sara Teasdale's poem There Will Be Rest frames this stunning piece for mixed divisi choirs. Soaring choral phrases conjure up images of "stars shining, rooftops covered with snow, crystal peace . . . finding the music of stillness." Following a serene opening, the piece rises and falls through affecting climaxes as well as passages of great tranquility, ending with the same sense of stillness with which it begins.


the Inspiration

Text

There will be rest, and sure stars shining Over the roof-tops crowned with snow, A reign of rest, serene forgetting, The music of stillness holy and low. I will make this world of my devising Out of a dream in my lonely mind. I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me Stars I shall find. - Sara Teasdale

Composer Notes

The inspiration for “The Music of Stillness” originated from the poem “There Will Be Rest” by Sara Teasdale, where she describes her journey from loneliness to hope through the hushed beauty of evening. One autumn night, when the weather first turned cold, I was enjoying the midwestern countryside and the entire sky was filled with stars. As the cold air hit my lungs, the expanse of the heavens took my breath away, and this is the music I heard. The music of a dream world under the stars where we can leave our troubles and find this momentary “crystal of peace” and rest. A place where beauty and calm exist, and all else fades away.
“The music of stillness holy and low...”

- Sara Teasdale

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