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About the Score

The Sound of the Sea

The Arrow and the Song

A Day of Sunshine

These three poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow each approach life from a different angle. The Sound of the Sea is a melancholy musing on the unpredictability of life. Longfellow’s beautiful sea imagery reflects the changing tides of the human soul. The music has a contemplative, searching quality that only finds resolution within the final measures. In The Arrow and the Song, the poet confesses that he has found fulfillment in spite of the many uncertainties of life’s journeys. I have chosen a hymn-like setting for this movement in order to preserve the simple structure of this poignant text. A Day of Sunshine celebrates the freedom that one can enjoy if one chooses to live life to the fullest. In this concluding movement, the carefree flow of the piano supports the joyous choral lines, which weave together energetic melodies and driving rhythms.

Three Songs of Life was commissioned by the Apollo Men’s Choir of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, Christopher Eanes, conductor. The group premiered the work on April 26, 2009.

Songs sold as individual movements or as a full song cycle.