i am a little church | Timothy Paul Banks | MusicSpoke

i am a little church mixed voices (divisi) unaccompanied

poem by e. e. cummings music by timothy paul banks

TIMOTHY PAUL BANKS MUSIC

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Composer Notes Inspired by other American settings of e.e. cummings’s poetry, when I came across “i am a little church” it spoke very directly to me. The compositional style is somewhat comparable to the sacred minimalism of John Tavener and further inspired by the evocatively simple beauty of certain choral works by Stephen Paulus.

Cummings was moved to write the poem upon visiting a lovely church in Paris, the Eglise Saint Germaine de Charonne. The poetic expression personifies the “little church,” extolling its humility and service and the beauty of its simplicity.

The ethereal nature of the poem is, I hope, enhanced by musical ideas inspired directly from the text.

— t. p. banks

i am a little church(no great cathedral) far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities —i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest, i am not sorry when sun and rain make april my life is the life of the reaper and the sower; my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving

Eglise Saint Germaine de Charonne (Paris)

"i am a little church(no great cathedral)".

Copyright © 1958, 1986, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from COMPLETE POEMS: 1904-1962

by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage.

Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company.

(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness around me surges a miracle of unceasing

This musical setting Copyright 2016 Timothy Paul Banks Music www.timothypaulbanksmusic.com

birth and glory and death and resurrection: over my sleeping self float flaming symbols of hope,and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

Timothy Paul Banks i am a little church(far from the frantic

For three and a half decades Timothy Paul Banks taught

world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature

conducting, choral literature, and voice courses at Samford

—i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;

University in Birmingham Alabama. Dr. Banks also pursued

i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

an active performance schedule as a conductor of five choral ensembles at Samford, including the Samford University

winter by spring,i lift my diminutive spire to

A Cappella Choir, in addition to a yearly schedule of

merciful Him Whose only now is forever:

performances in choral-orchestral music, opera and music

standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence

theatre. After this long and fruitful collegiate career,

(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

Tim Banks now continues as a free-lance conductor, composer/arranger, singer, musicologist, teacher and

— e. e. cummings (Complete Poems 1904-1962)

musical entrepreneur.

Contact him at timbanks.org

This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

Dedicated to Lester Seigel and the members of Sursum Corda, with gratitude for the premiere performances in 2016.

i am a little church e. e. cummings timothy paul banks

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3 2016 MusicMusic Publications 2016Highlands TimothyHouse Paul Banks This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit(Poetic MusicSpoke.com rights pending)to purchase performance copies.

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"i am a little church(no great cathedral)". Copyright © 1958, 1986, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust, from COMPLETE POEMS: 1904-1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.

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sub. p 3 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

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3 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

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