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( re h e a r sa l o n l y)
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About the Composer:
Duncan Tuomi (b. 1994) is a choral conductor and award-winning composer based in Los Angeles, California. He currently studies choral music in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of Southern California (USC), where he also completed his Master of Music degree. In addition to his choral music degree, he studied composition with Dr. Frank Ticheli and Dr. Chris Rozé. He also holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Music Education from St. Olaf College, where he studied under Dr. Anton Armstrong and Dr. Christopher Aspaas, among many others.
As a composer, Tuomi was the winner of the 2023 American Prize in Short Choral Works, College and University Division, as well as the 2021 American Choral Director’s Association’s Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition. He was also a composition fellow in Choral Arts Initiative’s summer 2022 PREMIERE|Project. Tuomi has had works premiered by Choral Arts Initiative under the direction of Brandon Elliott, the USC Thornton Chamber Singers and University Chorus under his own direction and under the direction of Stevie J. Hirner, the Long Beach Youth Chorus under the direction of Stevie J. Hirner, the University of Portland Chamber Singers under the direction of Dr. Michael Connolly, the Pacific University Chamber Singers under the direction of Dr. Scott Tuomi. He has received commissions from the Long Beach Youth Chorus and was commissioned to compose for the 10th annual Brothers, Sing On! Tenor/Bass Choir Festival in 2018.
About the Piece:
“Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem Crossing the Bar comes during a period of great depression in Tennyson’s life. Tennyson’s son, Lionel, had recently died while on the voyage back to England after taking ill in India, his body finally being laid to rest in the Red Sea This poem was written as Tennyson himself sailed between the Isle of Wight and mainland England, and the composition draws simple, yet powerful parallels between the passage of the ship from one land to the next and the passage of the soul from one life into the next. It is of particular importance to note that, during a period when most of Tennyson’s poetry was filled with desperation and grief, Crossing the Bar captures a certain serenity in the haunting beauty of coming to terms with the inevitable.
In this musical composition, an undulating ostinato mimics the rolling of waves in troubled waters, while the bass carries onward resolutely, acting as the ship in the musical texture. The melody stands in modal contrast with the rest of piece, highlighting the ethereal nature of the passage in Tennyson’s imagery. The piece concludes with the chiming of eight bells fading into the distance. Eight bells marks the beginning of the midnight watch, symbolizing the transition of one day into the next as the passing of one life into the next as well.”