The New Colossus
Lyrics by Emma Lazarus
soprano & piano
The New Colossus
Music by Oliver Caplan
Lyrics by Emma Lazarus (18 49 - 1887)
Instrumentation: Soprano & Piano
Duration: 7’00”
Year: 2018
Program Note:
America was founded in 1776, a nation of immigrants Now, we talk about walls, about here versus there, about fear, about sharing, about keeping, and keeping out. But over a century ago, in 1883, author Emma Lazarus penned a sonnet so powerful it would come to symbolize our nation’s place in the world for generations “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp, ” she wrote. “Give me your tired, your poor.” What could be more patriotic then this poem inscribed on one of our greatest national icons, the Statue of Liberty? I set Lazarus’s words to music in honor of those who’ve found a home in America and those who wait yet “beside the golden door.”
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
-Emma Lazarus
Te New Colosus
Lyrics by Emma Lazarus Music by Oliver Caplan
Hold fermata aprox. 20 seconds While sound decays