You Speak Violets
for mixed choir (SATB) unaccompanied
words by Shannon Bramer
The text for this piece comes from Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children by Canadian poet Shannon Bramer. Each poem was written for a different child in a kindergarten class the poet worked with, and they evoke the children's personalities quite vividly.
The child in this poem is quiet, but clearly has a lot going on inside. So to me, this piece is about seeing and exploring this child's vibrant inner world: the deep wells of imagination and emotion that lie beneath a shy, placid surface.
I was once such a child myself (and am now, in many ways, a quiet adult). How freeing and validating it would have been to have heard this piece's sentiments back then! For those of us without a knack for words, music and the arts can be a powerful way to communicate our experiences--and I hope this piece gives voice to the forests, waterfalls, and (yes) violets blooming, unspoken, in many an introverted mind.
This piece will be included on Chronos Vocal Ensemble's upcoming album Resolve.
The child in this poem is quiet, but clearly has a lot going on inside. So to me, this piece is about seeing and exploring this child's vibrant inner world: the deep wells of imagination and emotion that lie beneath a shy, placid surface.
I was once such a child myself (and am now, in many ways, a quiet adult). How freeing and validating it would have been to have heard this piece's sentiments back then! For those of us without a knack for words, music and the arts can be a powerful way to communicate our experiences--and I hope this piece gives voice to the forests, waterfalls, and (yes) violets blooming, unspoken, in many an introverted mind.
This piece will be included on Chronos Vocal Ensemble's upcoming album Resolve.
Score and audio