SATB Piano
In three movements: 1 Shallow Arms (divisi a cappella), 2 An Angel Embraced Me, 3 I Heard the Sky. These pieces were composed for Dr Richard Sparks and Pro Coro Canada, the premier performance recordings can be heard here. The third movement “I Heard the Sky” can also be heard on “the simplest way” by Chronos Vocal Ensemble. Available at Chronos Vocal Ensemble
These pieces are published by Renforth Music the scores here are samples from Renforth.
Shallow Arms, An Angel Embraced Me, and I Heard the Sky are sense-ual poems, made of sights and sounds that exist at intersections where the physical world struggles with the world of intangibles. They attempt to meet in some kind of harmony, yet catastrophic forces are at play. An angel threatens to devour a soul. Innocent lovers find themselves in the midst of a war. Everyday sounds evoke distorted perceptions of a screaming sky. Fortunately, relationship is physical, and the world we live in can be sensed. Simple sense-ual moments, and the observations of these moments, are what resolve these poems: a yellow scarf brings a tangible reality; lovers woven in sleep come together again; the acknowledgement of an encounter saves the troubled soul. – Mark Hemmingson