Cycle - (SATB Choir)

Duration: 3'

Program Notes:

The text for this piece comes from selected lines of a poem that dictates the life cycle of a plant. I have chosen to use the first line of each stanza, which shows each stage in the life of a flower, as well as including the entire last stanza, which circles back to the beginning. As the flower grows, the music grows as well. When it has fully grown, all parts of the text are sung together, depicting the way that life is present in every stage of the cycle. When the piece comes to an end, the flower dies but plants new seeds. The choir finishes on the same chord that the piece opens with. New life begins, and the cycle starts over again.

A seed rests deep within the ground

Held close in comfort by the earth

Before the room that was its tomb

Gives way to grant the seed rebirth.

A sprout works hard to find the sun

In root and stem, in strength it grows

It seeks the sky, then, by and by

The fruit of all its labor shows.

A bloom sways gently in the wind.

It dances gaily in the field.

It bends and plays for all its days

Till time for its new seed, concealed…

A flower blossoms, then it dies.

A whisper, breathes, and then it’s gone.

Its secret seed can then be freed

To rest before it, too, lives on.