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"Earth Song" by Frank Ticheli
Nebraska Wind Symphony Virtual Band
Dr. Joshua Kearney, Music Director
July 2020
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PROGRAM NOTE:
Frank Ticheli's music has been described as being "optimistic and thoughtful" (Los Angeles Times), "lean and muscular" (New York Times), "brilliantly effective" (Miami Herald) and "powerful, deeply felt, [and] crafted with impressive flair and an ear for striking instrumental colors" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel). Ticheli (b. 1958) joined the faculty of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in 1991, where he is Professor of Composition. Ticheli has appeared as a guest conductor of his music at Carnegie Hall, at many American universities and music festivals, and throughout the world, including Austria, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Japan.
Composed in 2006, Ticheli writes the following about "Earth Song:"
'"Earth Song" is one of only a few works that I have composed without a commission. Instead, it sprung out of a personal need during a time when so many in this country, including myself, were growing disillusioned with the war in Iraq. I felt a strong impulse to create something that would express my own personal longing for peace. It was this longing which engendered the poem’s creation. I knew I had to write the poem myself, partly because it is not just a poem, but a prayer, a plea, a wish-a bid to find inner peace in a world that seems eternally bent on war and hatred. But also, the poem is a steadfast declaration of the power of music to heal. In the end, the speaker in the poem discovers that, through music, he is the embodiment of hope, peace, the song within the Song. Perhaps music has the power not only to nurture inner peace, but also to open hearts and ears in a world that desperately needs love and listening.”
The poem:
Sing, Be, Live, See…
This dark stormy hour, The wind, it stirs. The scorched earth cries out in vain:
O war and power, You blind and blur. The torn heart cries out in pain.
But music and singing Have been my refuge, And music and singing Shall be my light.
A light of song Shining strong: Alleluia! Through darkness, pain and strife, I’ll Sing, Be, Live, See…
The wind band version of "Earth Song" is adapted from the composer’s own choral setting of the work.