About the piece

Walt Whitman’s poem ‘On the Beach at Night’ tenderly depicts a father comforting his daughter after their view of Jupiter and the Pleiades in the eastern night sky disappears behind darkening cloud cover. He encourages her to ‘be patient’, to hold to the hope that ‘Jupiter shall emerge’ in spite of the momentary shadows. All of us have had those rare instances of transcendent encounter in which everything seems to make sense, moments of beholding ‘Jupiter’. And yet most of our lives are spent between those moments, in the long, quiet seasons waiting for something meaningful to emerge again. It is within those indefinite stretches that remembrance becomes a sacred act of hope toward an as-yet unseen future. I hope choirs might really reflect on bringing out the contrasts in the piece, especially letting the longer passages breathe by focusing on the warmth of the harmony and the way the intertwining solo lines interact with it.

Difficulty : Hard
Voicing : SSAATTBB
Accompaniment : Unaccompanied
Duration : 3 - 6 minutes
Genre : Secular
Catalogue Number : V8P1414

A mostly approachable work, with some trickier passages. Good control of breath and vocal colour are essential. Every part is equally important, so strong singers are required throughout the ensemble; especially so if singing one to a part. Care should be taken with tuning and balancing the extended harmonies, while maintaining an overall sense of direction and commitment to the text.

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