Repertoire #8 (Ashore at last!)

Ashore at last! by Frank K. Dewald

This piece was a no brainer for this project, for a couple of reasons:

1. The poetry, by Emily Dickinson is beautiful, but the phrases are short and easily accessible.
2. The piece has a beautiful cello line, as well as very accessible choral parts for SSA middle school choir.
3. The composer, Frank Dewald, was my middle school teacher.

All three parts are in a very accessible range for middle school women.  Chromatic and harmonic pitches are usually prepared by step.  There are only a few instances of complicated rhythms, but they are homophonic.

The opening passage is a great learning tool in itself.  Those pesky opening 4ths are an opportunity for the singers to really use their ears and work together as a choir.  The short phrases, which really reflect the original poetry, give the singers ample opportunities to reset the mechanism.  The frequent skips in melodic lines also challenge the singers to still keep the legato.  The altos also get a fabulous suspension on the top of page 5.

This text is spiritual in nature, as much of Dickinson's poetry is.  However, the text is distinctly spiritual, not specifically religious.  The text is also very symbolic, and a great way to open discussion.  There are also a few great vocabulary words to learn!