Morning

Description

Soprano, Alto, Piano, Flute — Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) a major American poet was not honored as such until well after her death. She left school as a teenager and chose to live a reclusive life with her family.During her teen years, Emily had a short but intense period of creativity, which resulted in hundreds of poems or “fascicles” as they are sometimes called. After her death in 1886, her family discovered hand-bound booklets assembled by folding and sewing several sheets of paper together on which she copied final versions of her poems.Very few of her poems were published during her lifetime.Of particular interest in the poem “Will There Really Be a Morning” is the fact that many words were capitalized within the poem such as morning, day, bird, scholar, sailor, wise men and pilgrim. Some feel that the style and writing of Dickinson is somewhat unconventional. Others speculate that nature, education, and travel were so important to her that she wanted to place emphasis on those things.I have loved this poem for a very long time. I strongly feel that we have unique control on what we will do with each new morning we are given. What memories will we take from it or leave with it? It is a gift that we should cherish.Sing this work with a beautiful, warm, rich tone quality working for vowel unification. Be careful where harmony parts have different words and/or rhythms. You are “decoration” to make the whole more beautiful. Careful use of dynamics will help with never overshadowing the melody.You will need good breath support throughout each phrase. Be sure to maintain breath in the tone so the pitch doesn’t go flat.I hope you enjoy this arrangement as much as I enjoyed writing it!Glenda E. Franklin The timeless question posed by Emily Dickinson, "Will there really be a morning," is offered by Glenda Franklin in this lyric, somewhat whimsical setting for SA voices with optional flute. With opportunities to develop range extension in the emerging treble voice, the rhythmic play between voices provides great interest to both singer and audience.

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