Sarah Rimkus – “O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small…” for SATB choir (with divisi), c. 7’ *Performance notes: This piece is predominantly aleatoric, with boxes indicating a short musical cell to be repeated for a length of musical time indicated by a black line. The progression from one cell to the next should be indicated by the conductor, with ample time given to allow each singer to join and settle into the sound. A performance should take approximately 5 minutes. The conductor may wish to appoint section leaders who are designated to begin each new cell as it is introduced. A. Each time a new boxed cell is introduced, it should be started by one singer in the section with other singers gradually joining in. If one cell leads directly into another with a black line, likewise, one singer should begin the new cell when directed to by the conductor, even if other singers have not finished the previous cell. In all instances of the boxed notation, when a singer is singing a cell, they should sing it once until they run out of breath, then take an exaggerated breath and begin the cell again. B. Notation not in boxes denotes non-aleatoric singing, so the basses and first sopranos sing in unison on their final note of the second system, and everyone sings in unison as written at the beginning of the third system. As the sopranos and altos hold their chord as written, when individual singers run out of breath, they finish the word “great” with its final “-t”, take an audible breath and then join in again by rearticulating the word. This is denoted by the boxed notation continuing the chord. C. A chord in brackets followed by square notes indicates randomised arpeggios of the notated chord. Singers choose to arpeggiate the chord beginning on any note in the given chord, changing notes with each syllable as notated. They should move through the chord in the general direction indicated by the square noteheads – for instance, at the beginning of the third system, both the tenors and basses should begin on any note in the chord and move through the chord tones upward, leaping down to the bottom note and then continuing upward when they reach the top of written chord. D. The fourth system continues the random arpeggiation, but as indicated by the boxes and indeterminate rhythms, each singer will now perform this technique in their own tempo independently. This should be started by one singer when directed by the conductor, producing a gradual transition into this cell from the previous one, similar to the gradual transitions in the first section of this piece. As before, singers will breathe as needed, then take an audible breath and re-start. With regard to the final chord in the tenors and basses, singers should begin to finish their phrases and arrive on a held chord when indicated by the conductor, and diminuendo to nothing as they run out of breath.
Sarah Rimkus
E. The final phrase should be performed by the first sopranos in their own tempo, independently of each other, though singers should gradually drop out until the last part of the phrase inside the repeat symbols, when only three singers should be left. They should come together, hold and release together on the first two fermatas (before the dashed barlines), then sing the rest of the phrase completely independent of each other (while, of course, some singers are dropping out gradually). By the time the remaining three singers reach the final few notes of the phrase inside the repeat symbols, it should be repeated three times independently, but with a singer dropping out each time, leaving the final remaining singer to sing the final repeat alone.
Programme note: “O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small” is the opening to an old Breton fisherman’s prayer. It was inscribed on a small plaque given to President John F. Kennedy by Admiral Hyman Rickover, who gave the quote to all new submarine captains entering Naval service under his command. It became a favourite quote of the President’s, and he kept this plaque on his Oval Office desk throughout his time in office. It now resides on display at the Kennedy Presidential Library. This piece sets this text in a way that hopefully communicates the vast beauty and terror of the world that humanity has to contend with, along with the importance of mindfulness and humility in our relationship with the world for all people, particularly our leaders.
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
for SATB choir
"O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small..."
tempo: extremely slow
A* ppp
S1 & ˙
O...
ppp O...
O
(œ ˙ )
ppp
A1 & œ ˙
˙
O... dim. al niente...
œ ˙
O...
O...
A2 &
S1 & S2 &
#œ #˙ O
#˙
God...
God...
(all altos)
p
T1 V
B*
w S & w
great-
A & ww
great-
œ ˙ Thy...
T2 V
p
œ ˙ Thy...
#˙
. . .mf
sea...
cresc. poco a poco
˙˙
(great...)
B ?
∑
w
great!
œœ œ
C*
–
–
God,
thy
(Slow, approx. q = 48)
–
œœ œœ
O
–
O
–
God,
#˙
–
–
– so
–
sea
–
is
thy
sea
is
–
poco dim...
–
so
U
–
U –
ff œœ œœ
∑
dim. poco a poco al niente...
great,
ff
∑
dim. poco a poco al niente...
œœ œ
great,
mf
–
O
–
O
–
–
God,
thy
–
God,
–
thy
– sea
–
sea
–
is
–
is
–
U –
so
great,
poco dim...
D*
T V
œ # œœ
?
# œœ #œ
–
–
–
"O God, thy sea is so great..."
–
–
–
"O God, thy sea is so great..."
mf
–
so
–
(great...)
˙˙
great,
# ww
(great...)
#œ
ff
and
œ
nU˙
œ
my
boat
is
dim. poco a poco al niente...
#˙
great...
# ## œœœœ
∑
ff
great,
dim. poco a poco al niente...
–
–
–
# # ˙˙˙
–
# ## ˙˙˙˙ (# ˙ )
"O God, thy sea is so great..."
–
–
–
"O God, thy sea is so great..."
dim. poco a poco al niente...
great. dim. poco a poco al niente...
great.
© Sarah Rimkus, 2017. This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies. www.sarahrimkus.com | sarahrimkuscomposer@gmail.com
w
N˙
so...
. . .ff
so
so...
w
b˙
. . .ff
so
w so
˙˙
∑
dim. poco a poco al niente...
. . .ff
so
so...
bœ ˙ is
. . .ff
˙˙
(as possible) E* allpp singers, independently
#˙
# # œœœ
is
great,
dim. poco a poco al niente...
great...
great...
bœ b˙
so
so
U
so
so...
is...
ww
. . .ff
w
w
sea...
Thy sea...
(great...)
great!
great...
p œ #˙ ? B
#œ #˙
. . .mf
˙˙
∑
˙˙
cresc. poco a poco
Thy...
is
. . .mf
˙˙
T V w
B
˙
bœ ˙
is...
cresc. poco a poco
sea...
dim. al niente...
dim. al niente...
b˙
. . .mf
cresc. poco a poco
#˙
O...
O...
. . .mf
sea...
˙
˙
O...
˙
sea...
Thy...
#˙
God...
O...
#œ #˙ #˙
p
God...
˙
God...
sea...
Thy...
p
God...
A &
Thy
O
œ ˙
O
cresc. poco a poco
#˙
A & ˙
S &
#œ ˙
God...
dim. al niente...
œ #˙
(œ ˙ )
ppp
œ #˙
O
U
œ ˙
O...
dim. al niente...
#œ ˙
&
U
S2 & œ ˙
p
Sarah Rimkus (b. 1990)
dim. al niente...
œ # œœœ œœ œ
œ
–
O
–
O
–
God,
–
God,
–
–
thy
sea
–
–
thy
U ˙
œ
so,
so
sea
#œ
U ˙ small,
–
is
–
is
–
so
–
–
–
great,
–
so
great,
œ
œ
so
–
so
U ˙
– –
(...singers gradually drop out)
so
small,
U
–
non dim.
–
non dim.
great,
U
great,
.. œ
so
œ
œ
U
small.
˙
..
(3x)