{"product_id":"on-hearing-beethoven-carol-barnett","title":"On Hearing Beethoven – Carol Barnett","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComposer\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eCarol Barnett\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstrumentation\u003c\/strong\u003e: SATB, piano\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuration\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: Approx. 4:15 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate Written:  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComposer’s note:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs with most choral commissions, finding a text was the first creative task. From a preliminary field of six poems – five of them sonnets – Washington National Opera Chorus Master Steven Gathman and I chose Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “On Hearing a Symphony of Beethoven;” it seemed especially appropriate for these unsettled times. But which symphony? Millay never specified her choice. My guess was the 7th, in A major. The second movement contains both ethereal beauty and rude, insistent, overbearing rhythm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece emerged from the fog at a slow and rather laborious pace – not unlike Beethoven’s own creative process. I declared it finished several times, only to play it through the next day and find more room for improvement. The musical language ranges from comforting Brahms to dissonant parallel sonorities and crashing piano chords – a cry of rage from Minneapolis, where we were experiencing the first brutal days of the ICE invasion. And of course there are references to Beethoven, as well as a fleeting reference to Shostakovich, who sometimes quoted him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003etext:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSweet sounds, oh, beautiful music, do not cease!\u003cbr\u003eReject me not into the world again.\u003cbr\u003eWith you alone is excellence and peace,\u003cbr\u003eMankind made plausible, his purpose plain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnchanted in your air benign and shrewd,\u003cbr\u003eWith limbs a-sprawl and empty faces pale,\u003cbr\u003eThe spiteful and the stingy and the rude\u003cbr\u003eSleep like the scullions in the fairy-tale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis moment is the best the world can give:\u003cbr\u003eThe tranquil blossom on the tortured stem.\u003cbr\u003eReject me not, sweet sounds; oh, let me live,\u003cbr\u003eTill Doom espy my towers and scatter them,\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA city spell-bound under the aging sun.\u003cbr\u003eMusic my rampart, and my only one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e-- Edna St. Vincent Millay – “On Hearing a Symphony of Beethoven” (1928)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Beady Eyes Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download \/ Score","offer_id":52181571698976,"sku":"BEP-080.dl.s","price":2.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Physical Copy \/ Score","offer_id":52181571731744,"sku":"BEP-080.pc.s","price":2.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0828\/8095\/4656\/files\/Bee-C.png?v=1786594842","url":"https:\/\/opusimprints.com\/products\/on-hearing-beethoven-carol-barnett","provider":"Opus Imprints","version":"1.0","type":"link"}