Nuit d’été is an anthem for mixed chorus a cappella. The text by Paul Bourget (1852-1935) [in public domain] speaks to feelings we have on ‘sweet summer nights’. It follows a traditional AABACoda form. “Ô nuit, ô douce nuit d’été” acts as a reoccurring musical gesture, in the third stanza the SA voices take the melodic weight while the TB voices sustain on a drone. The music returns to the familiar “A” section in the fourth stanza, and there is an ending Coda section on the text “ô nuit aimante!”

Nuit d’été
Paul Bourget
Ô nuit, ô douce nuit d’été, qui viens à nous
Parmi les foins coupés et sous la lune rose,
Tu dis aux amoureux de se mettre à genoux,
Et sur leurs fronts brûlants, un souffle frais se pose!

Ô nuit, ô douce nuit d’été, qui fais fleurir
Les fleurs dans les gazons et les fleurs sur les branches, Tu dis aux tendres cœurs des femmes de s’ouvrir,
Et sous les blonds tilleuls errent des formes blanches!

Ô nuit, ô douce nuit d’été, sur les mers
Alanguis le sanglot des houles convulsées,
Tu dis aux isolés de ne pas être amers,
Et la paix de ton ciel descend dans leurs pensées.

Ô nuit, ô douce nuit d’été, qui parles bas,
Tes pieds se font légers et ta voix endormante, Pour que les pauvres morts ne se réveillent pas, Eux qui ne peuvent plus aimer, ô nuit aimante!

Translation;

Oh, night, oh, sweet summer night, that comes to us When the hay is cut; and, beneath the rosy moon, Tells the lovers to kneel,
Anointing their burning brows with its cooling breath.

Oh, night, oh, sweet summer night, persuading
The lawn and branches to blossom,
Telling the tender hearts of ladies to open
Beneath the fairness of limes, where pale shapes wander.

Oh, night, oh, sweet summer night, that upon the seas Calms the sobs of the furious swells,
You tell the lonely not to be bitter
And the peace of your sky will descend into their thoughts.

Oh, night, oh, sweet summer night, speak softly With lightened feet and soothing voice
So that the poor deceased, who can love no more, Will not be wakened, oh loving night!

nuit sample pages

“Snow Dreams” aims to capture the magic and peacefulness of snow; how it falls, how it silences the landscape, how it reflects light and how it encapsulates time and place. The work is almost bare, only a faint framework of pitches from the piano lay underneath long beautiful melodies from the singers as if a still frozen landscape unfolds. Defenseless trees stand waiting to bare the weight of tiny flakes; Pickthall equates each flake to white flowers ready to bloom, inspire and enwrap. The first two stanzas of the poem are musically set in a similar way using a “verse-chorus” form from popular music. The final stanza is set in a more delicate, floating style.

O, The white flowers,
How they float, how they follow
Down from the hillside and up from the hollow. When the wind calls them they answer in showers, So shining, so tender,
Rose-rounded and leaf-slender,
They ring me, they wreathe me wherever I go.
O, the white flowers,
The flowers of the snow.

O, the white stars,
They have dawned, they have drifted
Like dust the wind strawed and the Mary-moon sifted, Through the briar-berry bent to the cedar-wood bars.
So soft, so unbounded.
Flame-pointed, rose-rounded,
They have clung, they have swung where the branches are low. O, the white stars,
The stars of the snow.

O, the white dreams,
How they kiss, how they quiver,
The weft of the cloud and the woof of the river,
Where the elder-tree shadows the sleep of her streams.
They lead me, they linger,
Frost-foot and mist-finger,
Saying, Hands, would you hold us, and Heart, would you know All the white dreams,
The dreams of the snow?

snow dreams sample score pages

With thanks to the generosity of The Patrick Hodgson Family Foundation

Performance by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and the European Youth Orchestra

Text

Marjorie Pickthall (1883-1922) in public domain, alt. by the composer.

O though the way be rough and long, And dangers lurk on every side,
Yet still we lift our constant song,— And music shall be our guide.

Though tempests fill the empty sky, And terrors vex the circling night, Yet still with one accord we cry,— And music shall be our light.

Though fear should follow all the way Along the path our feet must roam.
Yet still with heart and voice we say,— Music shall lead us home.

Notes
“Lead Us Home” speaks to the power music holds; its ability to comfort, to transport and heal. In moments of conflict, strife and grief, we turn to music to lead us home and make us whole.

Home

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/migrations/1441365013?fbclid=IwAR2cRpUsnkIbpydE-q4O2gYzk_hOjHLTInc4ILNQSU-r2-f4C0UzcvxmSkk

This piece takes influence from the pop tune “I’m a Train” with a light heartiness feel and fast, train-like speed at which the song explores. This new composition has a folk inspired melody in two parts. It combines folk and contemporary writing; the slower cadences exemplify a more contemporary use of harmony and voice leading while the piano texture and verse melodies of the choir speak to a more traditional folk aesthetic. The piece is somewhat of a theme and variation form. Each verse and refrain repeat ideas while adding something new, or changing subtly. At times the instrumentation changes (which voice part sings at a time) or the texture changes (number of voices singing, or accompaniment is left out [optional]). The piano part changes throughout the short composition adding interest while providing a stable foundation for the choir.

The lyrics are adapted from a poem from the ‘Songs From the Age of Steam” no. 473 ‘Western Railroad’ The author is unknown, but the words date back to 1863 and can be found in the British Library (Shelfmark HS.74/1570/59). I freely adapted the text to suit my needs, the original poem is longer and some of the lyrics are in a different order in the original poem.