SSA (with divisi) and piano, 12 minutes
Primary Colours
Three Canticles for Women’s Choir and Piano
Kathleen Allan 2017
Commissioned in loving memory of Jean Robinson by her family for Elektra Women's Choir, Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director
I . Being Born
Be red, a red of space and stretch, a flow, a burst of burn.
And now reverse, contract, enclose to interpoint: shift darkness into out or in until you have a hearse, a box, a cage, with nets and loops of leaves, with pods of seeds.
Then move in protoplasmic dance through streaming mysteries of cell and cellicle; flow through careful barriers of bone and storms of blood, past cartilage and hinge, past loose vestigial wings and dangle from torn ligaments and broken muscle strings.
II. Living
Be blue, a blue of fathomless, a spray of far, a gleam of absent sunlit highs and glittering echoings, grab the empty edge of skies, swing wide, and plunge to blanching presences.
Now write your hieroglyphs on snowman’s letterhead, dictate your glaciers to sleeping space, compose an orange song and circle it with canticles of blue; pack up the forest and consign its hundred owlish eyes to earth in nailed crates of night.
III. Dying
Yellow, who are you yellow? Tuwhit tuwhoo I am I, yellow and you are you.
Yellow you are the sound’s horizons, its early orisons unpacked from vats of dew.
And yellow, you are the golden bar across the topmost star.
You are also the fertile toad of the yellow swollen day, you are yellow; the shrunken pearl of the loudly yellow night.
FORPERUSALONLY Donotcopy
Whatever you are or ever were or who, made old or born new, embellish, polish space; rake up the summer, loosen winds, Plant seeds until glorious at last you hang upside down from sky’s umbilicals.
Or slide some measured two-by-fours through open window frames; then wake the dreaming dead and touch their breath with stars.
Before you leave, sweep the blue sawdust up into a heap, and with clean brushes scatter it— through a thousand radiant doors.
Commissioned in loving memory of Jean Robinson by her family for Elektra Women's Choir, Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director
Primary Colours
Three Canticles for Women's Choir and Piano
I. Being Born
Soprano 1
Be
red, aredofspaceandstretch, aflow, aburstofburn.
2
Be
red, aredofspaceandstretch, aflow, aburstofburn.
red, aredofspaceandstretch, aflow, aburstofburn.
tilyouhavea hearse,abox,acage,withnetsandloopsof
leaves,withpodsofseeds.
bone
flow pastcart'lage - andhinge, and
bone
flow pastcart'lage - andhinge,
bone flow pastcart'lage - andhinge,pastloosevesti - gial - wings,
boneandstormsofblood, flow pastcart'lage - andhinge,pastloosevesti - gial - wings,
dan
-gle fromtornliga mentsandbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroken - mus-
and f dangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroand f dangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga - ments -
-clestrings,dangle - fromtornliga - -ments andbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga mentsandbro -
-kenmuscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga mentsandbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga - ments -
andbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroken - muscle - strings,dangle - fromtornlig-kenmuscle -
wereorwho,madeoldor bornnew,em bel p - lish, - polish - space;rakeupthe
wereorwho, madeoldorbornnew,em bel p - lish, - polish - space; wereorwho, madeoldorbornnew, [u] p
wereorwho, madeoldorbornnew, [u] p p
summer, - loosen - winds,plant seedsuntil - glorious - atlast you
plant seedsuntil
glorious
atlast you plant seedsuntil
atlast you plant seedsuntil
hang ff upside - downfromsky'sumbil - i - cals, - you
hang ff upside - downfromsky'sumbil - i - cals, - youn
hang ff upside - downfromsky'sumbil - i - cals, - you
hang ff upside - downfromsky's,youdangle - fromtornliga - ments - andbroken - muscleff
hangupside - downfromsky'sumbil - i - cals, - you
dangle - fromtornliga - -ments andbroken - muscle - strings, you hangupside - downfromsky's,youdangle - fromtornliga - -ments and you strings,upside - downfromsky'sumbil - i - cals, - you & ##### & ##### & ##### & #####
Commissioned in loving memory of Jean Robinson by her family for Elektra Women's Choir, Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director
II. Living Primary Colours
Three Canticles for Women's Choir and Piano
Be mp espressivo blue, ablue offathom - less, -
grabtheempty - edgeofskies, swing
plungetoblanching - presenc - es. -
snowman's - letter - head, - dictate - your glaciers - to
snowman's - letter - head, - dictate - your glaciers - to
songand
circle - itwithcanti - cles - ofblue;
orange - songandcircle - itwithblue; songandcircle - itwithcanti - cles - ofblue; songandcircle - itwithcanti - cles - ofblueandcircle - itwithcanti - cles - ofblue,circle - it
in
nailedcratesofnight.
hundred - owlish - eyestoearthinnailedcratesofnight.
hundred - owlish - eyestoearthinnailedcratesofnight.
hundred - owlish - eyestoearthinnailedcratesofnight.
frames: thenwakethedreaming - deadandtouchtheirbreathwith
window - framesthenwakethedreaming - deadandtouchtheirbreathwith
window - framesthenwakethedreaming - deadandtouchtheirbreathwith
window - framesthenwakethedreaming - deadandtouchtheirbreathwith
dream
ing, - dreaming, -
stars. dream mp ing, - dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming,stars. dream mp ing, - dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming,stars. dream mp ing, - dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming,mp dream ing, - Be
fore - youleave, Meno mosso rit.
dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming,,dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming,dreaming, - dreaming, - dreaming, -
through p
athousand - radi - ant - doors.
through pp athousand - radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors.
through pp athousand - radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors.
through pp athousand - radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors, radi - ant - doors.
Commissioned in loving memory of Jean Robinson by her family for Elektra Women's Choir, Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director
Primary Colours
Three Canticles for Women's Choir and Piano
III. Dying
packedfromvatsofdew. And
packedfromvatsofdew. And yellow,-yellow,-yellow,-yellow,-yellow,- And
topmost-star. oh yel mf low,-yellow,-yellow,-yellow.-
topmost-star. oh mf a tempo molto rit.
pearl, theshrunken-pearl oftheloudly-yellow,-
Meno mosso q = 88 rit.
loudly-yellow- night.
yellow-yellow-yellow-yellow- night. loudly-yellow- night. yellow-yellow-yellow-yellow- night.
rit.
the p loudly-
Also available for treble choir from Kathleen Allan
FORPERUSALONLY Donotcopy
Early Spring
An arrangement of the haunting Newfoundland folksong for women’s or advanced girls’ voices. Published by Cypress Choral Music (CP 1142).
Joy
An upbeat and uplifting setting of Sara Teasdale’s poem by the same name. Soaring vocal lines and rhythmic piano accompaniment. Commissioned by Elektra Women’s Choir. Published by Cypress Choral Music (CP 1403).
Maid on the Shore
“A fabulous, energetic arrangement” for women’s choir and percussion. Commissioned by Lady Cove Women’s Choir. Published by Cypress Choral Music (CP 1404).
The Sailor’s Question
A folksong-style original composition for three-part treble choir. Published by Alliance Music Publications, Inc. (AMP 0749).
Sainte Cécile
Drawing from several texts in French and English about music’s patron saint, this moderately difficult treble piece was commissioned by the English Montreal School Board Chorale and suits young singers or adult women. Available from MusicSpoke.
the close and holy darkness
Using the last lines of Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” this reflective piece depicts a quiet, dimly lit Christmas Eve from a child’s perspective. Text from the O Magnum Mysterium is woven in alongside distant sounds of Christmas bells. Available from MusicSpoke.
Ring out, ye bells!
A short jubilant piece perfect as a concert opener or impressive closer to a Christmas concert. Available from MusicSpoke.
For more about the composer and a full list of works, please visit kathleenallan.com.