As I Went
May 2024. SATB and Orchestra / 5:00
Composed for SATB with full orchestra (or chamber orchestra).
Full Instrumentation: Violin I and II, Viola, Cello, Bass, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horns I and II, Trumpet I and II, Trombone, Tuba, Timpani.
Dark - like Edgar Allen Poe, driving and pulsing. As I Went by Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914) “explores the inevitability of death through nature-based imagery. The poem consists of four stanzas, each describing a different location where the speaker encounters death. In the mountains, the baying of a hound symbolizes death; in the meadows, it's the fluting of a hidden bird; by the rocks and sand-dunes, it's the swimming of a silver fish. Finally, in the house, death is represented by the sound of footsteps. The repetition of the phrase "As I went, as I went" creates a sense of continuous movement and progress, while the repetition of "I heard, I heard" emphasizes the inescapable presence of death.” Perfect for Halloween, to accompany Sweeney Todd or Carmina Burana.
As I Went by Adelaide Crapsey
As I went, as I went
Over the mountains,
I heard, I heard,
Through cloud-wreath and mist,
A hound that was baying --
Death . . it was death.
As I went, as I went
Over the meadows,
I heard, I heard,
From thicket, from shadow,
A hidden bird fluting --
Death . . it was death.
As I went, as I went
By rocks and by sand-dunes,
I heard, I heard,
At the sea's bottom
A silver fish swimming --
Death . . it was death.
As I went, as I went
In my house, in my house,
I heard, I heard,
A footfall, a footfall
Closely behind me --
Death . . it was death.