Poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
By Mickey McGroarty
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
Anchored
Composer Bio Mickey McGroarty is an emerging composer based in Akron, Ohio, where he lives with his fiancé and two cats. McGroarty earned his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Akron after obtaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the same institution. He has worked with composers, arrangers, and conductors including Jake Runestad, Deke Sharon, and Barnaby Smith of Voces8, and has been premiered in Ohio, California, and Germany. This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
The piano plays two parts in this piece: that of the sea, representing life, and that of the “Sun of sweeter life”, representing death. At the emotional climax of the piece, the piano drops away completely and the choir sings “I could not choose to go beyond your call”, ushering back the opening music of the sea, demonstrating the triumph of life. On a more personal note, I began this piece in 2015 in the hopes of entering a contest and showed it to my college choir director Dr. Marie Bucoy Calavan for advice. Though I didn’t win the contest (or even finish in time to enter it) this interaction sparked a long and wonderful mentorship that brought me to where I am today. It is because of this piece that I am a composer at all.
Text Anchored If thro' the sea of night which here surrounds me, I could swim out beyond the farthest star, Break every barrier of circumstance that bounds me, And greet the Sun of sweeter life afar, Tho' near you there is passion, grief, and sorrow, And out there rest and joy and peace and all, I should renounce that beckoning for tomorrow, I could not choose to go beyond your call.
Program Notes Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Anchored deals with one of the great questions of humanity and religion: if one is certain of a paradise beyond, why suffer through this life? Dunbar answers “you” We do not know whether he addresses a friend, a lover, or an idea; we merely know he has found something that matters enough to overcome the suffering that life puts us through. Though I do not share Dunbar’s certainty that there is joy and peace awaiting us after death, I share his assertion that some things in this world make life worth living.
Mickey McGroarty (1996) Anchored Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872 - 1906) 7 4 T B T B T B S A S A S A surroundsme,Icould throughtheseaof nightwhichhere *If oo Icould oo Melancholy ( = 46) opt. alto solo tutti *all lower voices opt. soprano solo This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
18 14 10 T B T B T B S A S A S A rierofcircum and breakev'rybar swimoutbeyondthefartheststar cum and breakev'rybarrierofcir swimoutbeyondthefartheststar molto rit. moltorit. molto rit. 2 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
28 24 21 T B T B T B S A S A S A ooand And greetthesunofsweeterlife stancethatboundsme andgreetthesunofsweeterlifeand stancethatboundsme molto rit.molto 3 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
38 35 32 T B T B T B S A S A S A griefandsorrow Tho' nearyouthereispassion afar greetthesunofsweeterlifeafar afar greetthesunofsweeterlifeafar 4 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
47 44 41 T B T B T B S A S A S A morrowI Ishouldrenouncethat beck'ningforto restpeace I renouncethat morrow Ishould beck'ningforto all andoutthereandjoyandand 5 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
58 54 50 T B T B T B S A S A S A I couldnotchoose I Icouldnotchoose couldnotchoosetogobeyondyourcall Icouldnotchoose I Icouldnotchoose couldnotchoosetogobeyondyourcall 6 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
68 65 62 T B T B T B S A S A S A yourcall couldnotchoosetogobeyondyourcall oooo couldnotchoosetogobeyondyourcall A Tempo rit. opt. soprano soloopt. alto solo 7 This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.