Скачать или смотреть When I am Dead, My Dearest (for SATB Choir)

I had gone through several possible sources for the text of this work, but it wasn’t until I found this poem that I suddenly had the music come to me. “When I am Dead, My Dearest” is set to the poem by Christina Rossetti of the same name. “When I am Dead, My Dearest” embraces the idea that we should not mourn those who have died, but instead carry on living as we were. The work paints a picture with many various harmonic colors that are found throughout.

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.