Four Choral Miniatures

Four Choral Miniatures for SATB choir

Music by Matthew A. Bardin Text by Various Authors

2019

ii

A note from the composer: 4 Choral Miniatures is a collection of for short pieces for SATB choir. While they are given as a set in a specific order, they may be performed in any order or sub-set as desired by the choral director.

Each of these settings are of short, one-line quotes or poems by a variety of authors. They are listed in the printed order below:

I. Forever – is composed of nows…

-Emily Dickinson

II. In three words I can sum up all I know about life… it goes on…

-Robert Frost

III. Broken wings are not useless, because they still hold the memories of being able to fly.

-Makoto Nakamura

IV. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards…

-Soren Kierkegaard

Each of these miniatures contains its own character and may performed separately, but it is recommended by the composer that they be performed together as a set.

iii

On Notation: • General: o All metric relationships are indicated at the appropriate time signature changes throughout each miniature. o All accidentals carry through the measure, but not the octave or to another voice part. o These symbols are used to indicate if a crescendo/decrescendo should start from or fade to silence (or as close as the performer is capable of) respectively. o A piano and/or pitch pipe (or similar) may be used for rehearsal purposes, and to give the starting pitch at the beginning of the performance, but all of the miniatures are intended to be performed a Capella. • Miniature !I: o Performance notes are given opposite the music. • Miniature III: o Dashed lines are used to indicate when the melodic line changes between voices. o If a bass voice is unable to sing the lowest notes, smaller notes are given to indicate when they may sing an octave higher than the indented pitch.

Any questions regarding the music may be sent directly to the composer via his website: matthewbardin.com/contact

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I. Forever is...

Emily Dickinson

Matthew A. Bardin

SOPRANO

° b9 & 8

ALTO

9 &b 8

Energetic, moving e = ca. 1 08-11 6 (e = e throughout)

p TENOR

9 &b 8 œ ‹ For

-œ

bœ

- ev Com - posed

p

BASS

?b 9 œ ¢ 8

-œ

bœ

For - ev Com - posed

=

er of

er of

∑

12 8

∑

12 8

-œ

œ

œ

for - ev com - posed

-œ

œ

er of

œ

for - ev com - posed

er of

-œ

œ

œ

for - ev com - posed

-œ

œ

° b 12 & 8 p

for - ev com - posed

3 œ- œ œ œ- œ œ œ œ 4 b>˙ ™

For - ev - er for - ev - er for - ev - er Com -posed of com -posed of com -posed of

mf

12 & b 8 œ™ œ ™ ‹ is

˙™

? 12 œ™ œ ™ ¢ b8

∑

mf

œ œ

For - ev - er Com -posed of

o ∑

∑

is nows. mp

,3 4œ

œ œ ˙ -

, 3 bœ 4

œ bœ Œ

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œ

Œ

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mp

˙™

er of

œ

For - ev - er - is Com -posed of nows.

nows.

is nows.

∑ f

12 &b 8 Œ™ œ

12 8

mf

3 4

∑

er of

œ

e= e

2

12 8

, ˙ is nows.

Copyright © 2019 Matthew A. Bardin, MaBMusic.

All Rights Reser ved.

bœ

œ

bœ

For - ev - er Com -posed of

I. Forever is...

2 e= e

6

° b œ &

‰

9 Ϫ 8

is nows.

Ϫ

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p

-Ϫ

for com

ev posed

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er of

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p

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‰

j œ

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9 8œ

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& b ˙‹ is

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for - ev - er com -posed of

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p

9œ 8

œ

For - ev - er Com -posed of

nows.

? ¢ b Œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

œ

for - ev - er com -posed of

for - ev - er com -posed of mf

,

Ϊ

is nows. f

œ bœ

œ

12 8

2

Ϊ

>œ J

‰

3 4

is of

12 & b 8 bœ ™

Ϫ -

-œ

- ev Com - posed f

is nows.

12 8

mf

° b 12 b-œ ™ & 8

> ? 12 ˙™ ¢ b8

œ bœ

for - ev - er com -posed of

f

12 &b 8 œ ‹ For

12 8

for - ev - er com -posed of

is nows.

for com mf

œ bœ

œ

for - ev - er com -posed of

9 8 ˙™

˙ >

= 8

œ

-

bœ er of

ev posed

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Ϫ

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for - ev com - posed

er of

3 4

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œ

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for - ev com - posed pp

Ϊ

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-œ

œ

for - ev com - posed mp 2

œ is of

œ

3 4

er of

3 4

I. Forever is...

3 9

poco

e= e

° b3 ˙ & 4

nœ

œ

-˙

Divisi mp

™™ 44 w w-

is of

3 & b 4 bœ

nows.

poco

˙

˙™ -

is of

3 &b 4 œ ‹ For

Com

? 3 ¢ b 4 ˙™ is of

mp

œ

œ

ev - posed

er of

poco

is

w-

N .B.

Divisi mf

™™ 44 w-wnows.

poco

is of

mf

nows.

˙- ™ ˙™ -

™™ 44

N .B.

mf

™™ 44 w-

nows.

II. It Goes On*

4 Rober t Frost

Matthew A. Bardin

SPOKEN VOICE SOPRANO

In three words

° ## ppU w &

I can sum up

mp

Up w

mp

mp

Up w

mp

ah

ALTO

## ppU & w ah

TENOR

BASS

mp

Up w

mp

mp

pp

mp

## U w & ‹ ah ? ## U w ¢

ah

= 3

p U w

pp

ever ything I have learned

° ## U mp & w

mf

about life:

it goes on

U mf w

f

U mf w

ppp

o

## U mp & nw

mf

U mf w

f

U mf w

ppp

o

mp

mf

U mf w

f

U mf w

ppp

o

U mf w

ppp

o

## U w & ‹ ? ## U bw ¢

mp

mf

U mf w

f

Copyright © 2019 Matthew A. Bardin, MaBMusic.

All Rights Reser ved.

5

*Performance Notes

•

This short piece is designed to be performed by a spoken voice performer and SATB choir of any size. If needed, the speaker may be amplified so that they are heard clearly above the choral voices.

•

‘It Goes On’ was written with a single male speaking voice envisioned, but may be performed with any voice, or number of voices as desired for a performance. (They will be referred to in the singular for the purposes of this page)

•

To start, the choir sings their first chord and holds the ‘ah’ syllable for the entirety of the miniature. Each performer should breathe ad lib. as needed, but also take care to stagger their breath with their neighbors in order to maintain the sound nonstop for the performance duration. They may also slowly crescendo and decrescendo between the two given dynamics for that measure.

•

Once the first chord has been established, the speaker should read the boxed text shown on their line. They should use a loud, clear, speaking voice, as if addressing a large crowd directly. If desired, they may repeat the boxed text for each measure as many times as desired. If the text is repeated, pauses between each repetition should be less than five seconds.

•

When the speaker has been silent for longer than five seconds, the choir members may then begin to move to the next measure. If needed, a cue may be given by the speaker or choir director to signal the change, but each member should move to the new note in their own time. (keep in mind that the soprano voices maintain their starting pitch (A) for the duration of the miniature to help give reference to the other singers) This will create a blurring of the sound between the chords. Ideally making it seem as if neither one has a set beginning or end.

•

The speaker and choir will then repeat this process once each new chord has been solidified. Once the speaker has finished the final phrase (it goes on), the choir voices should slowly fade out to nothing and drop out one-by-one over approximately 15 seconds until the performance hall is silent.

III. Broken Wings

6

Matthew A. Bardin

Makoto Namakura

Divisi

Rubato e = ca. 72 (e=e throughout) SOPRANO

° 4œ œ &4 J mf

j œ œ™

Bro

ken wings

mf

ALTO

Bro mf

TENOR

BASS

4 & 4 œJ œ ‹ Bro mf ? 4 œJ œ ¢ 4 Bro

ken

j œ œ™ ken

be - cause mp

5 &8 ‰ 5 &8 œ ‹

be

?5 ¢ 8 bœ-. cause

Unison

they still

œ

cause

they mp

œ bœ J cause they

j œ. bbœœ - >

they

use

not use

> œ œ J are

f

3 4˙

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f

not use

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hold

3 4 b˙ hold

3 j 4 œ œ

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hold,

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be

5 8 -

mf

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j bœ œ the mem

-

or - ies f

bœ- œ bœj mem - or - ies

‰ Œ

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hold

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less

-

j œ œ

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less

-

A tempo mp

>œ œ 3 4 bœ ™

œ

-

> œ 4œ J 4

wings

4

j ° 5 œ bœ bœ œ & 8 œ œb œ

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j 43 œ ˙

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= [3• 2] mf

are

j œ œ™

4 & 4 œJ œ

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‰ 44 Œ

poco rall. f

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of mf

‰ bœ.

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4 4

of

> j bœ œ -œ bœ- - the

4 4

4 4

mem - or - ies

pp

œ

œ

bœ >

œ

bœ

œ

œ

hold the mem - or - ies

Copyright © 2019 Matthew A. Bardin, MaBMusic.

All Rights Reser ved

œ Œ of

4 4

III. Broken Wings

7

rall.

7

° 4 & 4 œ.

-

p

mf

>˙ n œ <n> œ œ. . .

-

be - ing ab - le to

mp

mp

mf

> œ -œ œ Œ

fly

fly

fly

fly

> 2 ‰ >œ œ ‰ 3 >œ œ ‰ œ -œ.

4 JJ 4 J

mp

>œ - U ‰ J œœœ fly

o

mp fly

p

4 & 4 œ bœ œ œ œ. œ ˙ .

mp

mf

2 4

∑

be - ing ab - le to

3 4œœœ Œ >

Œ™ > U ‰ œ ˙ <n>œ ˙˙ ™™ J u >

Divisi

fly

fly

o

mp mp

>4 & 4 œJ ‹

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mf

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∑

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8

IV. For ward/Backward

Soren Kierkegaard

SOPRANO

° #4 & 4

Matthew A. Bardin

Powerful, moving q = ca. 112

∑

mf

3 4

∑

4‰ j œœ œ œ 4 œœ

∑

Life

ALTO

# 4 ‰ mfj j œ œ œ œ & 4 œœœ œ œ œj œ Life Divisi mf

TENOR

can on - ly be un - der - stood

#4 w & 4w > ‹ ooh

3 4 ˙˙

w w

Π44 w w >

ooh

5

f

4 -˙ 4

3 ˙™ 4

mp

Ó

mp

3 4 ∑

ly be un - der - stood

&

Π44 w w >

ooh

° # jœ œ œ œ & œ J #

∑

?# w ¢ w

˙ back

3 4

mp

∑

4 3 4œ œ œ œ 4 ˙™ back

# & w w ‹

∑

ooh

?# 4 w ¢ 4w >

=

4 4 mf

3 4 ˙˙

w w

Divisi mf

BASS

f

3 4 ˙™ -

can on

3 4 ˙˙

Unison

Œ 44 œ œ œ œ 43 ™ ˙

Unison

back

œ 3 4

wards

4 3 4œ œ œ œ 4 wards

mp

back

3 4 ˙˙

wards

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wards

mp

Œ 44 œ œ œ œ 43 ˙™ back

wards

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Divisi

˙™ ˙™ back

4 œ œ œ 3 4œ 4 wards

Unision

4œ œ œ œ 3 4 4 wards

IV. For ward/Backward 11

° # 3 ˙™ & 4

mp

9 f

4 œ œ œ œ œ œj 3 œ œ œ œ 4 4 4 J œ 4˙

but

it

#3 & 4˙

Œ

4 4

must

be

∑

lived

3 4

for

wards.

4Π4

∑

Ó mf

œ ˙ > but

mf

# 3 œ ˙ Divisi 4 w & 4 4w ˙> ‹ ooh mf Divisi

?# 3 œ ˙ ¢ 4 >˙

mf

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4œ Œ 4œ

˙˙ >

ooh

mf

3 4 ˙˙ ™™

4w 4w

4œ Œ 4œ

ooh

˙ >˙

ooh

= 15

° # w &

mp

w

3 -˙ 4

œ œ œ

œ œ œ

lived

for

3 4˙ -

Œ

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Œ

™™

Œ

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oh

#

& œ # & w w ‹ ?# w ¢ w

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it

be

must

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wards.

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w w

3 4 ˙˙ -

w w

3 4 ˙˙ -

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