Sarah Riskind, Composer
Sarah Riskind’s Jewish choral music has been performed by ensembles such as the Seattle Jewish Chorale, Las Kantaderas del Noroeste, and the Esoterics. While her compositions include both accompanied and unaccompanied works, her background as a string player also allows her to create idiomatic violin parts to showcase a variety of colors in a choral program. Among her secular works are the four-movement Oz Cantata for chorus, soloists, and strings and Little Wonders for treble choirs, piano, and double bass or cello.
Compositions, Recordings, Scores, and Purchase Links
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| Title | Title Translation | Language | Text Source/Author | Themes | Holiday/Purpose | Voicing | Instrumentation | Duration | Difficulty | Recording | Score | Most Recommended | Purchase | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanerot Halalu | We light these lights | Hebrew | liturgical poem based on Mishnah tractate Sofrim 20:6 (from the Talmud) | Light, miracles, prayer, faith | Hanukkah | SATB | A cappella or optional instruments ad lib: piano, guitar, violin, or and/or others | 3’ | Medium Easy | Recording | – | Publication in progress through Pavane | This prayerful Hanukkah canon is in the Ahavah Rabbah mode, which includes the same pitches from harmonic minor with the fifth as the tonic. Included in the 2022 edition are an assortment of new formats and arrangements: the canon in two different keys with chord symbols, Solfège teaching materials, and arrangements for SSA, TBB, and SAB that incorporate an optional improvisation section. | ||
| Hanerot Halalu | We light these lights | Hebrew | liturgical poem based on Mishnah tractate Sofrim 20:6 (from the Talmud) | Light, miracles, prayer, faith | Hanukkah | SSA | A cappella or optional instruments ad lib: piano, guitar, violin, or and/or others | 3’ | Medium Easy | Recording | – | Publication in progress through Pavane | This prayerful Hanukkah canon is in the Ahavah Rabbah mode, which includes the same pitches from harmonic minor with the fifth as the tonic. Included in the 2022 edition are an assortment of new formats and arrangements: the canon in two different keys with chord symbols, Solfège teaching materials, and arrangements for SSA, TBB, and SAB that incorporate an optional improvisation section. | ||
| Hanerot Halalu | We light these lights | Hebrew | liturgical poem based on Mishnah tractate Sofrim 20:6 (from the Talmud) | Light, miracles, prayer, faith | Hanukkah | TBB | 3’ | Medium Easy | Recording | – | Publication in progress through Pavane | This prayerful Hanukkah canon is in the Ahavah Rabbah mode, which includes the same pitches from harmonic minor with the fifth as the tonic. Included in the 2022 edition are an assortment of new formats and arrangements: the canon in two different keys with chord symbols, Solfège teaching materials, and arrangements for SSA, TBB, and SAB that incorporate an optional improvisation section. | |||
| Oseh Shalom | May the One who makes peace in the heavens | Hebrew | based on Job 25:2 | Peace, prayer, faith | General sacred | SATB | Piano, violin (optional) | 3’ | Medium | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | A Jewish prayer for peace in a tango style, accessible for school, church, and synagogue choirs. SATB, piano, and violin. | |
| Oseh Shalom | May the One who makes peace in the heavens | Hebrew | based on Job 25:2 | Peace, prayer, faith | General sacred | TBB | Piano, violin (optional) | 3’ | Medium | Recording | J. W. Pepper | Yes | J. W. Pepper | A Jewish prayer for peace in a tango style, accessible for school, church, and synagogue choirs. SATB, piano, and violin. | |
| Hariyu | Shout for joy | Hebrew | Psalm 100 | Praise, thanksgiving, celebration | General sacred | SATB | Piano | 3’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | An exuberant Hebrew setting of Psalm 100 with homophony in changing meters. SATB and piano. | |
| Sim Shalom | Grant us peace | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, peace, charity, blessing, faith | General sacred | SATB, S or T soloist | Piano or organ | 4’ | Medium Easy | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | A solemn Hebrew prayer with a choral refrain and solo verses. Accessible piece for SATB, soprano or tenor soloist, and piano or organ. | |
| Dayeinu | It would have been enough | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Thanksgiving, faith, hope, celebration | Passover (usually March or April) | SATB | Piano | 2’ | Medium Easy | Score Preview | – | Simple arrangement of one of the most popular songs sung at Passover seders. “Dayeinu” can be translated as “it would have been enough.” SATB and piano. | |||
| Eliyahu Hanavi | Elijah the prophet | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, faith, hope | Passover (usually March or April) | SATB | Piano | 1’ | Medium Easy | Score Preview | – | Simple arrangement of the haunting Passover melody “Eiliyahu Hanavi” about the prophet Elijah, for SATB and piano. | |||
| Mi Chamocha (SATB setting) | Who is like you, O God? | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, praise, faith, awe | General sacred | SATB | Piano | 1.5’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | “Who is like You, O God?” A bright, upbeat homophonic setting of moderate difficulty. | |||
| Mi Chamocha (SA setting) | Who is like you, O God? | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, praise, faith, awe | General sacred | SA | Piano | 2’ | Medium Easy | Score Preview | – | “Who is like You, O God?” This rhythmic setting for SA and piano is accessible to young singers. | |||
| Shiru | Sing to the Lord a new song | Hebrew | Psalms 96:1 | Prayer, music, praise, celebration, faith | General sacred | SATB | Piano | 1.5’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | A triumphant and melodic Hebrew setting of Psalm 96:1, “Sing to the Lord a new song.” SATB and piano, moderate difficulty. | |||
| Adonai S’fatai | Eternal God, open my lips | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, meditation, supplication, humility, praise | General sacred | SSATB | A cappella | 1.5’ | Medium Easy | Recording | Score Preview | – | A Hebrew call to prayer in three-part canon. SSATB a cappella, but adaptable to any voicing. | ||
| Adonai S’fatai | Eternal God, open my lips | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Prayer, meditation, supplication, humility, praise | General sacred | SSA | A cappella | 1.5’ | Medium Easy | Recording | Score Preview | – | A Hebrew call to prayer in three-part canon. SSA a cappella, but adaptable to any voicing. | ||
| Mixolydian Alleluia | English (really just the word Alleluia) | Celebration, joy, triumph, hope | General sacred, Easter | SATB and soloist | Optional percussion | 2’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | A call-and-response anthem in Mixolydian mode with mixed meters; the mixed choir is often in unison. For a cappella choir, soloist(s), and percussion ad lib. | |||||
| Other Commencement | English | Ariel Kim | Triumph, struggles, hope, learning, growing, change | Graduation | TrTBarB, soloists | Piano | 4.5’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | J. W. Pepper | This piece for Treble/Tenor/Baritone/Bass chorus and piano was commissioned by Stephen O’Bent and the DigiPen Institute of Technology Dragon Chorus. In the text of Other Commencement, DigiPen 2021 graduate Ariel Kim reflects on the countless hardships that graduates have endured during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside this sincere acknowledgement of struggles, though, is a hopeful message about recognizing their hard- won accomplishments; their strength will carry them into the next chapters of their lives. | ||
| Psalm of the Sky | English, Hebrew | Rachel Barenblat | Comfort, faith, prayer, trust | General sacred | SAB | Piano, violin | 5’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | A setting of Rabbi Rachel Barenblat’s modern reimagination of Psalm 23, commissioned in 2019 for TBB voices as part of CCM’s Creative Commissions Project, sponsored by the Harmony Fund. This version is for SAB voices with optional tenor part, piano, and violin. | ||
| Psalm of the Sky | English, Hebrew | Rachel Barenblat | Comfort, faith, prayer, trust | General sacred | SSA | Piano, violin | 5’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | A setting of Rabbi Rachel Barenblat’s modern reimagination of Psalm 23, commissioned in 2019 for TBB voices as part of CCM’s Creative Commissions Project, sponsored by the Harmony Fund. This version is for SAB voices with optional tenor part, piano, and violin. | ||
| Psalm of the Sky | English, Hebrew | Rachel Barenblat | Comfort, faith, prayer, trust | General sacred | TBB | Piano, violin | 5’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Swirly Music | Yes | J. W. Pepper Swirly Music | A setting of Rabbi Rachel Barenblat’s modern reimagination of Psalm 23, commissioned in 2019 for TBB voices as part of CCM’s Creative Commissions Project, sponsored by the Harmony Fund. This version is for SAB voices with optional tenor part, piano, and violin. | ||
| Mi Y’malel | Who can tell? | Hebrew | Traditional Hanukkah text (new melody for traditional song) | Triumph, victory, heroism | Hanukkah | SATB | Piano, violin (optional) | 3’ | Medium | Recording | – | An energetic Klezmer-inspired piece for SATB, piano, and optional violin. | |||
| Mi Y’malel | Who can tell? | Hebrew | Traditional Hanukkah text (new melody for traditional song) | Triumph, victory, heroism | Hanukkah | SSA | Piano, violin (optional) | 3’ | Medium | Recording | – | An energetic Klezmer-inspired piece for SATB, piano, and optional violin. | |||
| Mi Y’malel | Who can tell? | Hebrew | Traditional Hanukkah text (new melody for traditional song) | Triumph, victory, heroism | Hanukkah | TBB | Piano, violin (optional) | 3’ | Medium | Recording | – | An energetic Klezmer-inspired piece for SATB, piano, and optional violin. | |||
| Ahavat Olam | Eternal love | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy (Evening Liturgy for Ashkenazim) | Love, learning, thanksgiving, praise, prayer, faith | General sacred | SATB | Organ or piano | 1.5’ | Easy | Score Preview | – | A brief homophonic setting of a common prayer of gratitude for the Torah. SATB with piano or organ. | |||
| Change the World | English | Sarah Riskind | Justice, activism | General secular | SATB | Open instrumentation (part written for one instrument). Keeps rhythm/drone in octaves. Ideal for piano, mallet percussion, etc. | 5’ | Medium Advanced | Score Preview | – | A guided improvisation in which section leaders choose pitches to fit notated rhythms. SATB and pitched instrument(s). | ||||
| Las Kazas de la Boda | The wedding houses | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Love, weddings, celebration, dancing | Weddings, general secular | SATB | Optional pitched and unpitched instruments | 4’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Arrangement of a Bulgarian Sephardic wedding song in 2+2+2+3. SATB with pitched and unpitched instruments, suggestions included in the performance notes, moderate to moderately advanced. Has detailed performance notes, with links to source recordings and a Judeo-Spanish pronunciation guide. | ||
| Las Kazas de la Boda | The wedding houses | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Love, weddings, celebration, dancing | Weddings, general secular | SSAA | Optional pitched and unpitched instruments | 4’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Arrangement of a Bulgarian Sephardic wedding song in 2+2+2+3. SATB with pitched and unpitched instruments, suggestions included in the performance notes, moderate to moderately advanced. Has detailed performance notes, with links to source recordings and a Judeo-Spanish pronunciation guide. | ||
| Resuenen los clarines | Sound the trumpets | Spanish | Praise, celebration, music, instruments, St. Cecilia | General sacred | SATB/SATB double choir | Organ (optional), can double and/or cover vocal parts with any desired instruments | 6’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | Scholarly performing edition of a sacred Spanish motet by the Mexican Baroque composer Manuel Zumaya. It is for SATB+SATB choirs and organ, but it also works well with instrumental doublings, or with instruments covering some of the parts. Verses can be performed by a small group. | ||||
| When I Consider Your Heavens | English | Psalms 8: 4-6 | Creation, heavens, praise, awe, mystery, prayer | General sacred | SAB | Piano | 2’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | Yes | Warm, light setting of Psalm 8 for SAB and piano | |||
| Esta Noche de Purim | This Purim Night | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Celebration, food, triumph | Purim (usually around March) | SSA | A cappella | 2’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | Arrangement of an upbeat Moroccan Sephardic copla about celebrating Purim, a Jewish holiday that usually falls in March. SATB a cappella, moderate difficulty. Has detailed performance notes, with links to source recordings and a Judeo-Spanish pronunciation guide. | ||
| Esta Noche de Purim | This Purim Night | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Celebration, food, triumph | Purim (usually around March) | SATB | A cappella | 2’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | Arrangement of an upbeat Moroccan Sephardic copla about celebrating Purim, a Jewish holiday that usually falls in March. SATB a cappella, moderate difficulty. Has detailed performance notes, with links to source recordings and a Judeo-Spanish pronunciation guide. | ||
| Rock of Ages | English | Traditional 13th century | Victory, triumph | Hanukkah | SATB | A cappella | 1’ | Easy | Score Preview | – | Homophonic arrangement of one English verse of the Hanukkah song Rock of Ages (Maoz Tsur) | ||||
| Oz Cantata, I. Tik-Tok | English | L. Frank Baum | Children, imagination, exploration, humanity, artificial intelligence, animals, magic, fantasy, humor | General secular | SATB, optional solo quartet, narrator, and actors | String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | 7.5’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Full Score: Vocal Scores: Parts: | A 21-minute four-movement work showcasing excerpts from L. Frank Baum’s whimsical and imaginative Oz books. Movements I and IV include significant choral parts, while II and III are for soloists only. Written for SATB chorus and soloists (with speaking roles) and string quartet. | ||
| Oz Cantata, II. Jack Pumpkinhead | English | L. Frank Baum | Children, imagination, exploration, humanity, magic, intelligence, fantasy, witch, humor | General secular | Baritone soloist, narrator | String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | 3.5’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Full Score: Vocal Scores: Parts: | A 21-minute four-movement work showcasing excerpts from L. Frank Baum’s whimsical and imaginative Oz books. Movements I and IV include significant choral parts, while II and III are for soloists only. Written for SATB chorus and soloists (with speaking roles) and string quartet. | ||
| Oz Cantata, III. Patchwork Girl | English | L. Frank Baum | Children, imagination, exploration, humanity, magic, intelligence, fantasy, humor, individuality, self-expression | General secular | Soprano soloist, other soloists, narrator, actors | String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | 3’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Full Score: Vocal Scores: Parts: | A 21-minute four-movement work showcasing excerpts from L. Frank Baum’s whimsical and imaginative Oz books. Movements I and IV include significant choral parts, while II and III are for soloists only. Written for SATB chorus and soloists (with speaking roles) and string quartet. | ||
| Oz Cantata, IV. Ozma | English | L. Frank Baum | Children, imagination, exploration, magic, intelligence, fantasy, humor, individuality, self-expression, gender, identity, transformation, beauty, princess | General secular | SATB, narrator, other soloists, actors | String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | 7’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | Full Score: Vocal Scores: Parts: | A 21-minute four-movement work showcasing excerpts from L. Frank Baum’s whimsical and imaginative Oz books. Movements I and IV include significant choral parts, while II and III are for soloists only. Written for SATB chorus and soloists (with speaking roles) and string quartet. | Influenced by traditional Irish vocal style; strophic | |
| We Were Once Strangers | English, Hebrew | Leviticus and Isaiah | Welcome, immigration, justice, charity | General sacred, general secular | SATB | A cappella | 5.5’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | This piece was inspired by those who struggle to find welcome in new places. The optimistic textual changes transform a command into a personal commitment. For advanced a cappella SATB choir with some divisi and a brief soprano solo. Premiered by The Esoterics in Seattle, directed by Eric Banks. | Aleatoric section | ||
| By the Waters of Babylon | English | Psalm 137 | Diaspora, sorrow, homeland, water, memory, weeping, tragedy | General sacred | SATB | Piano, cello | 9’ | Medium Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | Yes | A lyrical psalm setting for moderately advanced choirs. SATB, piano, and cello. | |||
| Esa Einai | I will lift up my eyes | Hebrew | Psalm 121 | Creation, heavens, faith, prayer | General sacred | SATB | Piano | 4’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | Hebrew setting of Psalm 121, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.” SATB with piano, lyrical and mostly diatonic. | ||
| For the Beauty of the Earth | English | Folliot S. Pierpont | Earth, Creation, nature, beauty, praise, thanksgiving | General sacred | SATB | Piano or organ, violin | 4’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | Yes | A lilting melody with primarily homophonic accompaniment, suitable for many church choirs. SATB, piano, and optional violin. | |||
| May the Words of My Mouth | English | Psalms 19:15 | Prayer, meditation, supplication, humility | General sacred | SATB | Piano or organ | 2’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | Lyrical Dorian/minor piece for baritone, mixed choir, and piano that works well before or during worship. | ||||
| Shout Unto the Lord | English | Psalm 100 | Praise, thanksgiving | General sacred | SATB | Organ or piano | 2’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | Exuberant Lydian setting of Psalm 100 for SATB and organ with some syncopation. | ||||
| Heart’s Ease | English | Broadside Ballads, 1628 | Shakespeare, love, Renaissance, theatre | General secular | SATB | A cappella | 2’ | Medium | Score Preview | – | Original unaccompanied Renaissance-style harmonizations of the tune “Heart’s Ease” from Playford’s 1651 Dancing Master, which is mentioned in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The first is fairly straightforward, while the second is more chromatic. Both are included in three keys to suit individual ensembles. | ||||
| The Silver Swan | English | Anonymous/Orlando Gibbons | Birds, endings, death, change | General secular | SATB | A cappella | 1.5’ | Medium Advanced | Score Preview | – | Original chromatic setting that pairs well with the Gibbons. | Premiere opportunity available! | |||
| Little Wonders | English | Danielle Coles | Fireflies, summer, insects, light, awe, beauty, children | General secular, summer | SA | Double bass or cello, piano | 4’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | (SA, piano, and double bass) | A whimsical but mysterious setting of a firefly poem by Danielle Coles. | ||
| Y’hi Ch’vod | May Your Glory Endure | Hebrew | Hebrew Liturgy | Praise | General sacred | SA | Piano | 2’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | “May the Glory of God endure forever.” This joyous piece for SA and piano is accessible to young singers. | ||
| Looking for a Sunset Bird in Winter | English | Robert Frost | Winter, birds, nature, trees, hope memory, beauty | General secular, winter | SA | Violin, piano | 3.5’ | Medium Easy | Recording | Score Preview | Yes | J. W. Pepper | In this Robert Frost setting for SA choir, piano, and violin, a modal melody expresses the presence of beauty in a seemingly desolate environment. Premiered by an intermediate-level elementary/middle school choir, it is accessible to ensembles strengthening their part-singing skills. | ||
| Adio, Kerida | Goodbye, Beloved | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Lost love, rejected love | General secular | SSAA | A cappella | 5’ | Medium | Recording | Score Preview | – | Unaccompanied SSAA arrangement of the popular Sephardic melody that was most likely inspired by a Verdi aria. | Recording includes an improvised oboe introduction | |
| Hashamayim | The heavens | Hebrew | Psalms 19:1-5 | Creation, heavens, praise, awe, mystery | General sacred | SA | Piano | 2.5’ | Medium Easy | Recording | Score Preview | – | Lyrical setting of Psalm 19:1-5, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” for SA and piano. Accessible to young singers. | ||
| Lavaba la Blanka Ninya | The fair woman was washing | Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) | Traditional Sephardic | Narrative ballad, love, war | General secular | SSA div. | A cappella | 6’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Arrangement of a haunting Greek Sephardic ballad about a woman who does not initially recognize her husband returning from war. SSA a cappella with div., melismatic, in a mode with one microtone. Advanced. Has detailed performance notes, with links to source recordings and a Judeo-Spanish pronunciation guide. | Detailed performance notes, historical context, and pronunciation resources. Created as part of a D.M.A. dissertation. | |
| Skatutakee Gap North Pack Monadnock | Mountains, early music, solfege, New England, nature | General secular | Violin, cello (singing cellist) | 6’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Recorded in Dublin, New Hampshire, at the world premiere performance as Recorded in Dublin, New Hampshire, at the world premiere performance as part of the 2021 Walden School Faculty Commissioning Concert in July 2021, featuring a performance by Hub New Music. In this duet for violin and singing cellist, the names of The Walden School Young Musicians Program mountain hikes are mapped onto Solfége syllables (inspired by Josquin Desprez). An original fiddle tune fleshes out the New England setting. | ||||||
| Imposter Syndrome | General secular | – | |||||||||||||
| I Went in the Water | Water, courage | General secular | Violin, alto saxophone, piano | 4.5’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | Recorded in Dublin, New Hampshire, at the world premiere performance as part of the 2018 Walden School Faculty Commissioning Concert in July 2018, featuring a performance by the International Contemporary Ensemble. This trio for violin, saxophone, and piano grew out of a modal theme that resembles both the octatonic scale and the Phrygian dominant scale (common in Jewish music). It begins cautiously and ends in a lively dance with frequent metrical shifts that culminate in a wild ascent. | Includes improvisation sections for all players and “chop” string technique for the violinist | |||||
| Confrontation | Tension, resolution | General secular | String quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | Score Preview | – | This string quartet features quartal harmonies with an opening chorale and a mixed-meter B section. | |||||||||
| Austen Observes: I. Novels | English | Jane Austen | Reading, books, humor | General secular | Soprano or mezzo-soprano soloist | Piano | 1.5’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | A cycle of three short songs for soprano or mezzo-soprano with humorous Jane Austen quotes. The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. ― Northanger Abbey | |||
| Austen Observes: II. Neighbors | English | Jane Austen | Reading, books, gossip, humor | General secular | Soprano or mezzo-soprano soloist | Piano | 1.5’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | – | A cycle of three short songs for soprano or mezzo-soprano with humorous Jane Austen quotes. Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies. ― Northanger Abbey For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn? ― Emma | |||
| Austen Observes: III. Time | English | Jane Austen | Reading, books, time, humor | General secular | Soprano or mezzo-soprano soloist | Piano | 4’ | Advanced | Score Preview | – | A cycle of three short songs for soprano or mezzo-soprano with humorous Jane Austen quotes. Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch. ― Mansfield Park | Premiere opportunity available! | |||
| Threefold Blessing | Hebrew | Numbers 6:24-26 | Blessing, protect, peace, benediction | General sacred (traditions vary) | Soprano or mezzo-soprano soloist, Tenor soloist | Organ | 4’ | Advanced | – | ”May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord deal kindly and graciously with you. May the Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace.” Ancient benediction, also called the Priestly Blessing. | Composed for an interfaith baccalaureate service at Williams College. I sang soprano, Cantor Robert Scherr sang tenor, and student Scott Smedinghoff played organ. | ||||
| Tarde del trópico | Tropical Afternoon | Spanish | Rubén Darío | Sea, water, music, instruments, storm, weather | General secular | Soprano soloist | Violin, piano | 10’ | Advanced | Recording | Score Preview | Yes | A Spanish art song for soprano, violin, and piano. The text is a poem by Rubén Darío, depicting a sea storm in musical metaphors. | Composed for and in consultation with native Spanish speaker Dr. Adriana Martínez. I am also conversant in Spanish. |