All is Thus but Starlight Here

SATB, piano | Duration c. 5’20"

All is Thus but Starlight Here was commissioned by the alumni of Marquette Senior High School Redmen Chorale in honor of Jan Brodersen on her retirement after more than twenty years of service to the MSHS community. The piece sets portions of the poem Enosis by Christopher Cranch.

Like the stars that gem the sky,
  Far apart, though seeming near,
In our light we scattered lie;
  All is thus but starlight here.

Only when the sun of love
  Melts the scattered stars of thought;
Only when we live above
  What the dim-eyed world hath taught;

Only when our souls are fed
  By the Fount which gave them birth,
And by inspiration led,
  Which they never drew from earth,

We, like parted drops of rain
  Swelling till they meet and run,
Shall be all absorbed again,
  Melting, flowing into one.

Like the stars that gem the sky,
  Far apart, though seeming near,
In our light we scattered lie;
  All is thus but starlight here.

- Cristopher Cranch