The work is a lyrical setting of Longfellow’s text, often dividing the choir into eight parts. It is suitable for advanced high school or college choirs. Published by Pavane Publishing, exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard.
Instrumentation
SATB chorus and piano
Text
The work takes its text from H.W. Longfellow’s poem The Day Is Done (excerpts):
The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents,
And silently steal away.
Duration
4:30
Composition Date and Commission
Composed 2005
Commissioned by Richard Messenger and the Irvine High School Chorale, and premiered by them at Carnegie Hall in April 2005.
