Songs from the Departed | Mickey McGroarty | MusicSpoke

Program Notes

The concept behind Songs from the Departed is to set 6 texts by poets who have passed on The poets left messages to their loved ones, essentially instructions on how to grieve. I’m fascinated by this point of view on death, not from the people left behind, but from the lost souls themselves. Part of what drew me to these poems in particular is the ambiguous spirituality behind them; none of the poems is overtly religious, though some of the poets were religious themselves, but almost all of them express some belief or hope for an existence after death, be it as themselves or as part of the broader universe.

“When I Am Laid in Earth” is an arrangement of Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas I first heard this piece in an intro to music literature class, and I have been enamored with its haunting melody ever since. Dido, the Queen of Carthage in the opera, sings the song after Aeneas, her love, departs for Italy, moments before taking her own life. It seemed a fitting opening to the collection because of how gorgeously tragic Dido’s last wish is: “remember me, but forget my fate.”

“When I Am Gone Away” begins with the same desperate plea, repeated over and over in the piece: “remember me.” She refers to death as the “silent land” and worries that darkness and corruption will erase her thoughts. Over the course of the poem, the speaker comes to the understanding that her wish to be remembered is far less important to her than the wellbeing of those she is leaving behind. She decides that if there is anything left of her at all, that part of her would want her loved ones to move on, “forget and smile” instead of remembering her and being sad.

“Release Me” is perhaps the most religious of the texts, or at least demonstrates the most belief in some sort of afterlife. The speaker pleads to be released, for they will be waiting nearby for their loved ones to join them and be welcomed home. This piece mentions, as many of them do, the inherent loneliness of going where no one can accompany you, but it is also the most hopeful that those we love will be waiting on the other side to welcome us home.

“If I Must Go” at its heart, is a love song. Teasdale asks that if she must die, as we all must, she may spend eternity with the recipient of the poem, knowing them and being known. Her hope after death is simply for one other person with whom to watch eternity pass by, again touching on the inherent loneliness in the concept of death. Her instructions are simple: “be near me” and are stated in the piece with three different emphases: hoping for the person’s continued existence (be), the longing for proximity (near), and the pleading for some sort of self after death (me).

“I Am Not There” resonates with me spiritually more than any of the other texts. Rather than a clear concept of an afterlife, Frye simply posits that we do not die, but join the broader universe as winds, diamond glints, and sunlight. She instructs the bereft not to weep, for she can be found all around them.

“Let Me Go” felt the appropriate ending to the collection, for it completes the emotional journey from the tragic lament of Dido to the joy of “a soul set free.” The speaker, similar to “I Am Not There” does not want funeral rites, roses, or sad songs, but instructs the listener to “miss me, but let me go.” Like in “Release Me,” the text touches upon the inherent loneliness of going on the journey through death alone, but reassures us that it is the “road to home.” As the text so perfectly summarizes concepts from the other poems, it only seemed appropriate to sprinkle in musical references to each of the other movements.

Taken as a whole, the message of the work is one of allowing yourself to grieve. Each of the pieces expresses a desire for the listener to forget the hard times, to be comforted, to remember love and good times, and to let go. We do not know what awaits us beyond death, be it silent land, darkness and corruption, existence as a thousand winds, or simply “home” but we do know that we wish only the best for the loved ones we leave behind. We, those left behind, must allow ourselves to move through grief and find happiness, until it is our turn to be welcomed home.

Nahum Tate (1652-1715)

1. When I Am Laid in Earth

(Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas)

Henry Purcell (1659-1695) arr. Mickey McGroarty (1996)

fate. my

but ah! get

for get for member Re

ah! mem but for mem fate. Re

get, fate. mem

for berme! my

for my fate.

ah! but fate ber For fate.

get get

ber get fate.

me! get me! ber ber

for get mem for

get, Re me. mem

mem get, mem

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for ber

for my mem Re

get For fate, Re

for me.

get, for my

getmy ber me!

get, mem

me! get Re

get, for for

for

for me.

my my fate,

my get. Re me. ber

rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. A Tempo rit. cresc. dim. (dim.) (dim.) cresc. (dim.) (dim.) dim. dim. (dim.) (dim.) cresc. (dim.) (dim.) dim. (dim.) dim.                               5      

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Yet should pray. you for while cresc. (cresc.)

Yet cresc. (cresc.) (cresc.)

should wards

if a ter

pray. while    

me

me wards get for cresc. cresc. (cresc.)

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if cresc. cresc.

ter 10  

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Desperate ( = 76)

Mickey McGroarty (1996) 3. Release Me

I so

go lease

go Iamgone, When go me lease

me, let

lease re let

gone, When me

re me am go

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let things

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lease me

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gone, I go let am have

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me go Iamgone, When am re When me let 6 7

re I re so 6 6 7

me gone, I gone, lease let me, re lease me, let go me go 6 6 6 7

6

6

6 7 7 6 7

6 7

have I

A Tempo anonymous rit. rit. Desperate (=76) A Tempo (A#) B cresc. cresc. cresc. cresc. cresc.                                      15       This

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18  

   

each you the you ness. pi 3 3

   

thank it eled

eled for 3 3 3 3

     

I in each ness. enh. rit. rit. A Tempo rit.

    This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

gave for you but love a ness. happi you forthelove 3

gave forthe you hap 6 3

thank 6 6 7 7 3

mein shown, much but mein yougave thankyou I each now is it time I

but A Tempo rit. rit.

 

me 6 7

grieve So 3 6 6 7

enh. B♭M B♭

        

have I hap 6 7 7

 

you love 6 6 7

while haveshown, trav

cresc. cresc.

thankyou me pi haveshown, 6 7

we

must

the we must part

part with

mo me with we

so

so bless part

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ries far mo

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me for need

call goes life goes life on youneed

and

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come

on

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ing, like We Timewill shallnot    

yond be yond

li dy

shallnot Be we fly We ing, for shall heed, past ing, be li yond Time ing,

yond li dy yond ing,

ving, Be leaves dy

  

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like will fly ving, theleaves fly us be

ving, Be fly

ing,

  

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29      

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Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004)

Mickey McGroarty (1996)

 

cresc. (cresc.)

cresc. (cresc.)

cresc. cresc. (cresc.)

cresc. (cresc.)

thousand snow

(cresc.)

(cresc.) (cresc.)

a winds. I am grain, mond

 

amthe glints. tle gen dia the I am

sand sun

thou on

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sandwinds snow. I

I am I tleautumnthegen

3 3

am I on

blow. am thousand sun

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blow. that sun am

3 3 3 3

on sandwindsathou am mond am onripe dia the ned I the

glintsdiamond I am the Iam nedonripe

am I blow. glints

athou on grain. sun

that snow.

3 3 3

blow. that winds the 3 3

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am tle ripened grain, 3 3 3 3

that sun ripe gen the gen

thedia I ned the

I am I

a am tle



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glints on am the

blow. autumn

35  

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 

rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. rit. 38  

I there. am

the not my

I night. stand grave my Donot cry; at

soft I that am cry; there.

am not

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at night. am I and

stars grave am

shine Do not notstand

night. there not I graveandcry; Donot am

I stand at

at not I  

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at stand at grave am my not I I am

night. there. Donot I

am am

my andcry; not I not

stars amthe shine soft not

night. grave Do andcry; not there. not there.

stand am 

that at

at night. Do Do

grave grave my

I mygrave not stand there. 3 3

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Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Hopeful ( = 62)

Slightly Faster ( = 72)

Slightly Faster ( = 72)

Mickey McGroarty (1996)

+Sopranos

Faster ( = 82)

but let berthe Missme, me shared go. love that Re mem we once low me

we once miss

Faster ( = 82)

oo once we

let but me

Oh, me, mem

Miss me, shared

let we

go. me Miss love

let that

shared but

let ber the

shared go. Re but

me, me,

let me,

but me let Miss

oo Miss

Miss me,

me, let miss Miss but go. me let

go. me, the ber

go. but go.

me that shared

go. love

but go. but once

Re Oh, mem

me me For

once we

Faster still ( = 92)

this take road

we ney terplan on

It's is lone. jour Andeach to mas the step

When Go

all a a a must A

mustgo

are we know.

lone the atall thingswe Laugh do

at to

you the

and used

                                   42      This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.

heart sick ly me, to

part all of home. 3

 

Triumphant ( = 102)

  

 

rit. rit.

And not

not That

the not get. sha shall for notsee dows, night gale rain; dream

for dream That not 3 3

  

I if

wilt, pain; doth

ifthou ber,

And through

the sha not

shall Cry set, I ly

notsee ing rain; risenor set, 3 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

I doth

rit. 

Ishall pain; ingale

dows, in if night hearthe

 

Triumphant ( = 102)

 

 

get. fear And

   

the Ishall

Relaxing ( = 96) rit.

fear may

the re mem

45  

not wilt,ifthou Ishall out Cry And

the in pi

in And Hap

            

      

light twi the as

ingthroughthe twi hear shall light I as nor And

rit.

    

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A Personal Note from the Composer

This collection of pieces is deeply important to me, as it spans 8 years of my life, from November of 2015 when I started sketching “If I Must Go” to May of 2023 when I finished “Release Me”. In 2015, I was living in a house that wasn’t my parents’ for the first time, and I started grappling with my mortality in a way that I never had before. I had been Catholic growing up, yet had been losing my faith for several years by this time. It was in 2015 that I realized that without a religious faith, I had lost all concept of an afterlife. The resulting implication, the endless nothingness of oblivion suddenly waiting for me, sent me spiraling into a panic that has remained with me (in varying degrees) to this day. I worked on “If I Must Go” off and on for years, until 2023 when I wrote this final edition for the 2023 Voces8 Composition Competition (which I did not win). The deadline for the competition was the push I needed to finally finish.

After the initial sketch of “If I Must Go” came “I Am Not There” which I wrote after the 2019 regional ACDA conference in Wisconsin. This was the last trip I took before the Covid-19 shutdown, and whisperings of the pandemic were already reaching us. Once again, I felt my mortality closing in around me, as my friends and I discussed the wisdom of taking a trip while a global pandemic was threatening to overtake the country. This was the first of the collection to be premiered, and it took place on Youtube, using phone recordings I collected from my friends virtually. It was then, in 2020, that the idea for a collection of pieces started forming, and I sketched “When I Am Gone Away” and “Let Me Go” while exploring the works of Christina Rossetti. 2020 was a big year for me compositionally, with emotions running high and free time suddenly inexhaustible.

It was then that I started graduate school for conducting and set composition aside for a while. It wasn’t until 2021 that I finished a full draft of “When I Am Gone Away,” written for the Choral Arts Initiative Premiere|Project Festival. I had never really believed that I could compose professionally until I took part in that amazing festival, and suddenly I was receiving commissions and meeting other composers and publishing with MusicSpoke, so this piece holds a special significance to me as a turning point in my career.

Once “If I Must Go,” “I Am Not There,” and “When I Am Gone Away” were finished, I decided to buckle down and really finish the project I was envisioning. I wrote my arrangement of “When I Am Laid in Earth” and wrote a full draft of “Let Me Go” within a span of two weeks, and took them to my graduate professor Marie Bucoy-Calavan to see if she would conduct on a recording. She agreed, but said the collection needed one final piece to round it out: something that started out louder and more desperate instead of quiet and contemplative Having run out of poetry I had intended to use, I took to ChatGPT, plugging in the poetry I used and asking for other poems that fit the theme. It suggested the poem “To those I love and those who loved me” by an anonymous poet. It was perfect, and it may be my favorite from the set, though I had never intended to write it.

Writing this collection has been a deeply cathartic experience for me. When I’m at my worst, fully consumed with the prospect of leaving this world behind someday, I return to these texts and the comfort that they offer. I hope that putting this music out into the world will help others work through their feelings as well, whether they’re grieving a loved one, or facing their own mortality.

This work is dedicated to the artists that helped bring it into existence:

Marie Bucoy-Calavan, mentor, teacher, friend, advisor, and greatest supporter of my work

Brandon Elliott and Choral Arts Initiative, who commissioned and premiered the second movement, connected me to MusicSpoke, and overall brought life to my composition career

Anneliese Spangler, love of my life and companion during long hours of editing

Sabrina Wolf, who is always ready to sing my music, including the demo tracks of these pieces

Matthew Britton and Hannah Lebo, who have been singing these pieces since 2020

Peter Wright, honorary alto, partner in religious crime, and unofficial agent

Logan Usher, Kyle Reynolds, Adam Usher, and Laura Krupp, the singing sitcom

Julie Lehman, Patron Saint of the Akron Music Community

Jacob Zingery, Lydia Nall, Kaitlyn Gaughan, and Maxwell Sebastian Smith, who lent their voices to the recording of this work and others in both a beautiful church and in my “recording booth” (hall closet).

Rachel Imhoff, Kassie Mastrolonardo, Josie Wright, Izzy Anderson, Jenna Gasser, Jeff Boggs, Nic Wagner, and Connor Stumperth, who took a chance and recorded with me for the first time on this project.

Tim Logan and Alex Morris, my trusty A/V crew

Emily Lane, who turns a mean page