Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Between two hills - (2011)
Carl Sandburg
for medium or low voice and piano
Between two hills
The old town stands.
The houses loom
And the roofs and trees
And the dusk and the dark,
The damp and the dew
Are there.
The prayers are said
And the people rest
For sleep is there
And the touch of dreams
Is over all.[ 2 pages, circa 2' 45" ]
Carl Sandburg
The text is found in Sandburg's Chicago Poems (1916). For other setting to Carl Sandburg's poetry, click here.
The imagery of peace lying over a sleepy, small American town in the evening is simple, yet evocative. For this, a four-part chorale-like texture is graced with snap rhythms from time to time, as the accompaniment as a gentle stream begins before the vocal line and continues afterwards. The wholly diatonic yet lightly dissonant harmonies are intended to echo early musical Americana.
The score for Between two hills is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
