2 part and piano

Program note:

” Bright the Heart” is a work for two-part voices and piano. The music alternates between lyrical, flowing melodies and quicker, more fragmented gestures. This musical contrast reflects the poem’s themes of light and darkness, and of being lost and then found. Ultimately, the work serves as an anthem to the importance of friendship, and a reminder of our calling to input love and beauty into the world.

Text by Elaine Eastman (1 863-1 953) in public domain:

Dark the day but bright the heart,

True, true friends can never part,

Cold the storm and dark the day,

We can love, and love alway.

Tho’ the winds should moan and cry,

Tho’ they wearily should sigh,

Love can shed a gladsome ray,

We can love, and love alway.

Then, when Springtime’s happy bloom

Sheds about a rich perfume,

Love’s sweet harvest ours that day,

We will love, and love alway.