Shadow Song

SATB Choir
6 minutes

Program Note

​Shadow Song is an aching meditation on the pain and loneliness that can overwhelm us in the dark of night. Vulnerable, isolated vocal lines and bursts of florid movement convey yearning and passion, while lush homophonic moments express the hope of an escape through dreams until morning. Shadow Song was commissioned by Dr. Brad Pierson and the Glass City Singers and was premiered on April 24, 2018 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio.

Shadow Song
by Sophie M. Helmsley 
​
THE night is long     
And there are no stars,—          
Let me but dream          
That the long fields gleam
With sunlight and song,
Then I shall not long     
For the light of stars. 
​
Let me but dream,—     
For there are no stars,—           
Dream that the ache          
And the wild heart-break
Are but things that seem.
Ah! let me dream     
For there are no stars