MusicSpoke | Artist Owned Sheet Music™

About the Score

Marybeth Kurnat, composer · Rise Again Soon

Midwestern winters are difficult. Midwestern winters during a pandemic are especially challenging. This work is based on my journaling, poetry and conversations with my counselor as I navigated seasonal depression throughout the first two winters of COVID-19. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is estimated to affect 10 million Americans, or 3% of the population. An additional 10% may have mild cases. The disorder affects women four times more than men, and usually begins between the ages of 18 and 30, though children can suffer too. Some people’s symptoms are severe enough to affect quality of life; 6% require hospitalization. Those diagnosed with SAD experience major depression seasonally for at least two consecutive years. But there are significant geographic differences, especially in latitude, since winter nights are hours longer in the north than in the south. Loneliness, isolation and “homesickness” for friends and family during the social distancing period intensified the experience of SAD around the world. In this work, the sun is personified as a motherly figure, whose extended absence is felt by her child. Rise Again Soon seeks to bring visibility to those who endure SAD, the challenge to embrace brief moments of warmth and light during a difficult time, and encourage its listeners not to give up on spring - who has not yet failed to return to us - or a future after COVID

Add to Cart

You must login to submit a review.