bar, whenIput outtosea,
set - andevening - star, outtosea, outtosea, outtosea,
Whenthatwhichdrewfromouttheboundless
again -
foam,Whenthatwhichdrewfromouttheboundless deep,turns mp again -
foam,Whenthatwhichdrewfromouttheboundless - deep,turns mp again -
Clarinet in B b (shown at concert pitch)
Over
Over
small mf inblastberuff - led - plume,had chos f en - thustoflinghissoulupon - thegrowing - gloom,up -
small mf inblastberuff - led - plume,had chos f en - thustoflinghissoul upon - thegrowing -
small mf inblastberuff - led - plume,had chos f en - thustoflinghissoul upinblastberuff - led - plume,had chos f en - thustoflinghissoulupon - thegrowing - gloom,up -
throughhishappy - goodnight - air
- hope,whereof - heknew
throughhishappy - goodnight - air
throughhishappy - goodnight - air
- hopewhereof - heknew
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:
Some Blessed Hope collects three pieces set to texts by Victorian-era poets: Crossing the Bar by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Snow-flakes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy. The pieces are arranged to display a narrative of hope juxtaposed against the harshness of winter. Crossing the Bar, while not directly about winter, focuses largely on the hope of peace in passing over from one land to the next, either in the literal crossing between the Isle of Wight and England, or between one life to the next. The waters of these crossings are especially treacherous during wintertime, and as such, I determined that this text was still appropriate for this set. Snow-flakes explores the process of expressing one’s grief in the form of art, using the parallel of snowfall as nature’s own artistic expression. Finally, The Darkling Thrush tells of a bird singing merrily against the bitter and icy world of winter, telling of a hope for a brighter tomorrow. It is subtly hinted in the poem that this may be the end of the thrush’s life. As such, one may interpret that the hope about which the bird sings refers to heaven, connecting the messages of hope across all three pieces through the winter imagery, connecting to Snow-flakes, and the peace of the hereafter, connecting to Crossing the Bar.