forever. | Marybeth Kurnat | MusicSpoke

forever.

I would gladly die Tomorrow

If I could tell you Tonight

That I have loved you Forever

And hurt no one.

-Erinn Shepherd

composer’s notes

My gateway to singing as a 15 year-old was early music, particularly Renaissance madrigals and motets. I would would stay up until all hours of the night, following each individual line of Josquin’s Ave Maria and Thomas Tallis’ If Ye Love Me, completely spellbound by their polyphonic textures and tense, churning harmonies. I chose to approach setting this poetry in the same structural style, not just to experiment with those musical characteristics, but also to challenge myself to evoke as much emotion as I could with very little text - which this era of composers did so masterfully.

This music is a message in a bottle - a love letter unreceived. It is an anthem for anyone who has ever feared to love out loud, whether to avoid causing pain for someone else, or in fear of being rejected or discriminated against for who they love.

Commissioned by Michael D. Costello and the Chicago Choral Artists, May 2023.

about the composer

Marybeth Kurnat (1987) is an emerging voice in choral music in the Chicago area. Her authentic compositional style, especially her harmonic language, is heavily influenced by her musical foundation as a jazz saxophonist. Her work, “I, Lover,” was the 2021-22 Winner of the Stephen Paulus Emerging Composer’s Competition. She was a 2023 Composition Fellow for the PREMIERE|Project Festival. Marybeth holds a B.M. in Music Education from Northern Illinois University, and serves as a music educator in DeKalb, IL. She maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist and choral singer with several Chicago-area choirs.

© 2023 emm bee kay music

score

for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

commissioned by Chicago Choral Artists - Michael D. Costello, director

loved you for e

mf - ver, - -

mf - ver, -loved you for e

loved you for e

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loved you for e

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molto legato

I have loved you for e

mf - ver, - -

molto legato

mf - ver, -molto legato

I have loved you for e

mf - ver, - -

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