Return Again

SATB, piano | Duration c. 3'45"

Return Again was commissioned by Jimtown High School Chamber Ensemble of Elkhart, Indiana, conducted by my old friend Rachel Wilkins Sutch. Years ago, Rachel and I were both senior aids to our high school choral conductor Jan Brodersen, and so I welcomed the opportunity to collaborate again. This piece sets the poem Dreams by Walter de la Mare, which speaks to the loss of our childhood dreams as they fade over time. Ironically, both Rachel and I are still pursuing our childhood dreams; hers to be a choral conductor, and mine to be a choral composer. The work is dedicated to Mrs. Brodersen for inspiring us, and so many others, to continue pursuing these dreams.

Be gentle, O hands of a child;
Be true: like a shadowy sea
In the starry darkness of night
     Are your eyes to me.

But words are shallow, and soon
Dreams fade that the heart once knew;
And youth fades out in the mind,
     In the dark eyes too.

What can a tired heart say,
Which the wise of the world have made dumb?
Save to the lonely dreams of a child,
     ‘Return again, come!’

- Walter de la Mare