"Echo" [Andrew Miller]

"Echo" [Andrew Miller]

First line of lyrics: Come, come, come, come,

Miller, Andrew; music (American, active 2011)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

2011 [published]

Andrew Miller

genre: song|choral music|part song

chorus: SATB chorus

instrumentation: synthesizer

initial sharps/flats: one sharp

initial time signature: 4/4

origin: United States

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "Echo"

Composition history: Miller suggests in a text preceding the score, that the "poem could be the voice of someone who has passed into the afterlife adds a deeply profound element of spirituality.”

Tempo markings: quarter note = 40

Performance instructions: "ethereal". “The synthesizer can be any electronic keyboard that is dynamically touch-sensitive, can sustain any number of pitches simultaneously, and contains 'synthetic strings' in its soundbank. For proper balance, it is ideal to plug the electronic keyboard into an amplifier or sound system. In this piece, the synthesizer fulfills multiple musical elements that are often not present and/or difficult to achieve in many choral settings, especially middle schools and smaller high schools. Essentially, it acts as a string orchestra or a low men's section, providing young singers in smaller choral programs the opportunity to experience a close semblance of singing sustained, 6 - 8 part divisi choral music.” “In this piece, dissonances are almost always approached by step for accessibility, and should be enjoyed to the fullest and sung into with confidence and round vowel shapes. An echo pattern is also a common and important element, in which voice parts repeat/imitate each other on the same word or syllable. In these instances, singers should usually emphasize their entrance and immediately decrease their dynamic, to create the illusion of a true 'echo'".

Notes: The work is divided in 4 sections: the first called "Come to me" (one sharp, quarter note = 40, "ethereal") is composed of the first 4 lines of the poem; the second "Come back in tears" (three flats, quarter note = 50, "with deep longing") of lines 5-6; the third "Oh dream how sweet" (five flats, quarter note = 60, "passionately") of the second stanza; the fourth "Yet come in dreams" (two flats, quarter note = 55) of third stanza.

Format 1: musical score

9 pages

Cataloguer: Emma-Catherine Wilson and Roxanne Lafleur, University of Ottawa

musical score: "Echo (Andrew Miller)." Choral Public Domain Library, submitted by Andrew Miller, 3 Oct. 2011, http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Echo_(Andrew_Miller).

Record: CRM-echo-miller

File(s): CRM-echo-miller.pdf

Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) License

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