The Wood Thrush
music Gregory W. Brown text John James Audubon & Sara Teasdale
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John James Audubon’s diaries, as reprinted in Scribner’s Magazine, March, 1893, pp. 267–289
Wood Song [From “Songs out of Stress”] I heard a wood-thrush in the dusk Twirl three notes and make a star— My heart that walked with bitterness Came back from very far. Three shining notes were all he had, And yet they made a starry call— I caught life back against my breast And kissed it, scars and all.
Sara Teasdale Poetry Magazine, X, 3 (1917), p.126
cover image: Wood Thrush (Hylocichia mustelina) from John James Audubon’s Birds of America [public domain] This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
for Ryland Angel and 'The Call' project
The Wood Thrush
John James Audubon (1785–1851) Sara Teasdale (1884–1933)
Gregory W. Brown (b. 1974)
gregorywbrown.com
# 4 œf œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ w œ œ œ œ‰ œ œ œ V 4 J q = 66–76; warmly
Tenor Solo
I
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
4
S
T
B
for a day gave up
# 4 ‰ & 4
lis - t’ning to the songs of our
∑
# 4 ‰ & 4
∑
∑
# 4 ‰ V 4 ?# 4 ‰ 4
# V œ Œ
Ó
# Œ œ &
œ œœ
in
A
nev - er
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑ ∑
the
œœ ‰ œj œ œ œ J
dusk,
a wood - thrush,
# Œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ ‰ j œ œ œ œœ œ & J V
#
?#
in
∑ ∑
the
dusk
a wood - thrush,
∑
∑
birds,
π ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œJ J Œ
π ‰ œ œ œ œ J
I heard a
‰
wood - thrush
œ
I heard a wood - thrush
∑ ∑
Ó
Œ
P œ ‰ œJ œ ‰ œœœ œ œ I
‰ œJ œ
œ
‰ œj œ
˙
a wood - thrush
a wood - thrush.
nev - er
for a day
œ œ ˙
Ó
in the dusk
Ó
˙
∑
∑
∑
∑
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase © 2018 — Gregory W. Brown (ASCAP) performance copies.
gave up
The Wood Thrush 8
S
A
T
B
V & & V
#
œ œ ‰ œ œ œ
lis - t’ning
V
T
B
∑
œ œ
w
of our
birds,
#
∑
‰
Œ
œ
heard
a
#
∑
#
j œ œ ‰ J œ œ œœ
# œ & œ #
dusk,
‰ œj œ œ œ
œ
‰ œj œ œ œ
?# ˙
dusk,
a wood - thrush,
a wood - thrush,
a wood
Œ
a wood
‰ œj œ œ œ a
Œ
œ
œ
I
heard
I
heard
œ œ
œ
-
-
wood - thrush
—2—
œœ
in
œ
the
j ‰ œ œ œ œ œ J
Œ
wood - thrush
in
the
˙
in
the
j œ ‰ Œ
œ
œ œ
a
wood - thrush
in the
a
wood - thrush
in the
œ
œ œ œ ‰ Œ J
thrush
thrush
in
the
‰ Jœ œ œ in
˙
œ œ
Ó
dusk.
the
œ dusk
˙
dusk
f ‰ œœ
Œ
˙
‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J
a wood - thrush,
Ó
∑
a wood - thrush
‰ œj œ
Œ
∑
j œ ‰ œ œ J
div.
a
p ‰ Jœ œ
Ó
∑
dusk,
p ‰ œj œ
heard
Ó
∑
œ
wood - thrush
p ‰ œ œ œ œ J I
# œœ &
V
p ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œJ J I
dusk,
A
to the songs
?#
11
S
#
œ
f # œ ‰ J œ twirl
Ó
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twirl
The Wood Thrush
14
V
#
∑
# f œ œ & œ unis.
S
A
#
Fœ œ Œ œ Œ
twirl three
notes
œ œ œ œ and make a
& œ œ œ œ œ
œ
three notes and make
T
# œ œ œ V three
B
notes
18
V
A
T
B
or watch - ing
œ
‰ œœ œ œ ˙
& & V
#
three notes and make a
œ œ- œ œ J
# œ. #
walk’d
#
walk’d with
œ
?# Ó
Ó
with bit - ter - ness,
œ
œ- œ œ
bit - ter - ness,
∑
f ‰ œj œ
that walk’d,
Œ
f ‰ œj w My
heart
that
w
star—
and make a
ww
star—
∑
f œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
My
heart that walk’d with bit - ter - ness
with bi - ter - ness,
˙
f Œ ‰ œ œ. œ J J
My heart that
‰ œj œ œœ ww J
f ‰ œj œ œ œ
Œ
∑
and make a
star—
Œ
ha - bits;
f Œ ‰ œj œ œ
‰ œ œ œ w J
star—
∑
∑
∑
Œ
œ
star—
and make a
Œ
Ó
My heart
#˙
a
their pe - cu - liar
star—
f? # ‰ œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ twirl
S
˙
Œ ‰œ œ œ œ œ œ œŒ
œ
œ
that
œ
walk’d
∑ w œ- œ # œ
œ
with
bit - ter - ness
‰ œ œ- # œ ˙ J
œ œ œ œ œ- œ œ
that walk’d with bit - ter - ness,
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
with bit - ter - ness,
Nw
that walk’d with bit - ter - ness…
—3—
˙
This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
π
The Wood Thrush 22
V
S
A
T
B
&
# #
∑
p # ‰ œJ œ œ œ œ
# ‰ pj # œ œ œ œ- œ & Came back from ver - y
# œ V
p ‰ # œ œ- œJ
Came back from ver - y
F # Ó œ Œ
dur - ing
#w
π ‰ # œj œ Œ
#w
∑
far,
far,
with bit - ter - ness…
?#
π ‰ #œ œ Œ J
Nay,
#w
#œ #œ œ œ #œ nœ œ œ Œ #œ ‹œ
Ó
∑
my
#œ
came back,
came
came back,
#œ
∑
came
p #˙
deep - est trou - bles,
p #˙
Ó
back,
back,
Œ
Ó
p # œ # œ . n œJ
p ‰ # œj œ
My
∑
heart
Came back,
# # œ œ œ pœ Ó V
∑
26
S
A
T
& &
# #
deep - est
trou - bles,
Ó Œ
# #œ V
p
˙
my
heart,
#œ
#œ
Œ
˙
came
back,
B
p ˙
?# ‰ j œ #œ
came back,
back,
‰ œj my
came
‰ œJ n œ œ
my heart came
˙
heart,
n˙
P
my
F sub. p Œ œ ˙ my
nœ œ
P œ œ œ œ
back,
heart,
my
back, my
—4—
p ˙
heart,
came
˙
q ≈ 63–72; rubato
∑ F sub. p œ œ ˙
my
P Œ ‰œ J
Ó
leggiero, espressivo
I
π misterioso Œ ‰ œj w [m]
π misterioso Œ ‰ œj N˙ [m]
Ó
˙
π misterioso Œ œ œ œ
heart.
[m]
∑
Ó
heart.
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π misterioso ˙ [m]
The Wood Thrush
# œ œ œ Œ ‰ œ V J
œ- . œ œ œ .
&
w
30
S
A
T
B
& V
#
fre - quent - ly
would wrench my - self
w
#
(continue humming, breathing ad lib.)
#
(continue humming, breathing ad lib.)
˙ œ
˙
œ œ œ
(continue humming, breathing ad lib.)
?# w
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
from the per - sons
œ Œ ‰œ œœ J
a - round me,
and
w ˙
˙
˙
œ œ œ
œ
œ
œ
w
˙
œ œ
˙
œ
˙
˙
œ œ œ
re -
œ
œ
w
w
(continue humming, breathing ad lib.)
# œnon. cresc. œ œ œ œ œ J V
34
S
A
T
B
& & V
#
tire
to some se - clud - ed
#
˙
(cont.)
œ
#
˙w
(cont.)
˙
œ œ
(cont.)
?# w
œ
œ
œ
F ‰ #œ œ œ #œ #œ œ Œ Ó
Ó
˙
œ
w
˙w
˙
˙ part
of our no - ble
œ œ œ
œ
œ
#w
for - ests;
w ˙˙ œ
w
N ˙˙
œ œ #œ
and man - y a
ww w w
(cont.)
—5—
3 ‰ œJ œ œ œ
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The Wood Thrush
# œ. V
œ œ nœ
38
S
A
T
B
& & V
# # #
time,
at the sound
∑
œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ
of
the
∑
w
(cont.)
œ nœ
? # œ nœ
œ
w
œ
œ
(cont.)
# ˙ V
S
A
T
B
& & V
#
knees,
∑
have I fal
there
pray’d ear - nest - ly
œ
˙
˙
∑
∑
our God.
∑
˙
(cont.)
?# ˙
(cont.)
Ó Ó
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
-
len
∑
on
my
˙
˙
œ œ ˙
to
œ œ œ œ
∑
˙
w
q = 66–76; warmly
p ‰ œ œ œ œ œ Œ J p ‰ œ œ J
Three shin - ing
# #
œ. œ œ Œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ and
∑
me - lo - dies
∑ ˙
(cont.)
41
wood - thrush’s
œ œ œœ
∑
Œ Ó Ó
notes
Œ
p ‰ œj œ œ
Three notes,
p ‰ Jœ œ œ
Three shin - ing
Three shin - ing
—6—
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The Wood Thrush 45
V
S
#
∑
# ‰ œj œ & J
œ
were all
A
T
B
# Π& #
œœ
œœ
he
had,
j ‰ œ œ œ œ œ J were all
˙
Œ
?# œ œ œ
œ.
V
∑
notes,
he
œ œ
all
he
V
S
A
T
& &
# # ˙ ˙
Œ
had,
and
yet
˙
they made
œ a
Ó
and yet
Ó
π ‰ œj œ œ œ
‰ œJ œ œ
∑
∑
[the wood - thrush
[the
they made a
wood - thrush
œ œ ‰ Jœ œ .
star - ry call—
f
I
f œ œ œ œ Œ
star - ry call—
∑
I
caught
in
nœ œ J
caught
‰ œj œ #œ œ œ œ
Star - ry call—
∑
thrush,]
π ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J
three shin - ing notes
œ œ œ œ
˙
[the wood
F j ‰ œ œ œ œ
œf # œ
the
π ‰ œj œ
three shin - ing notes,
Œ
œ œ
œ
[in
F j ‰ œ œ œ œ
had,
F ‰ œœ œ œ œ œ œ
# œ œ ‰ #F œ œ V J ?# ˙
œ
three shin - ing notes,
∑
and yet
dusk,]
B
F ‰ œJ œ
Ó
dusk,]
#
he
∑
had,
π j œ ‰ œ œ J
F j ‰ œ œ œœ œœ J
œœ ˙
notes were all
48
œœ
∑
my life
œ
my
in the
the
œ back
œœ œ life back,
‰ œj œ œ œ œ œ
I caught my life back,
Ó
dusk.]
Œ
‰ œj my
—7—
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The Wood Thrush 52
V
S
A
T
B
#
∑
# Ó &
‰ Jœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ
&
# Œ
V
# ‰ j œ œ
‰ œj ˙
life,
V
S
my
#
T
#
my
œ œ
And kiss’d
œ
œ
œ
œ
œœœ
And
breast
∑
Rit.
And
∑ œ Œ
it,
œ œ
breast and
my breast, a - gainst my
∑
#˙
#˙
and
kiss’d
œ œ
œ œ ˙
and
kiss’d it,
and
# Œ ‰œ V J œ œ ?# Œ ‰ j œ œ œ
and kiss’d it,
Œ œ
kiss’d it,
scars
kiss’d it,
and kiss’d it,
Œ ‰œ œ œ J
kiss’d it
and kiss’d it,
and kiss’d it,
and kiss’d it,
œ œ œ Œ ‰J
œ œ œ Œ ‰J
P F p œ œ œ œ Œ ‰J œŒ Œ œ Ó œ œ Œ
∑
Œ œ ˙
w
and
gave
up
lis - t’ning…
w
˙
Ó
all.
Rit.
˙
it,
Œ ‰œ œ œ J
Rit.
all,
#˙
j œ ‰ œ Nœ œ
œ #œ
I nev - er
and kiss’d it,
B
œ
∑
# #˙ & &
breast
breast
œœ j œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ
scars
A
a - gainst my
œ
a - gainst
? # œ.
56
∑
Ó
˙
˙
œ œ w
all.
w
˙
Ó
œ œ Œ œ œ œ w
w
˙
Ó
Ó Nœ œ Œ œ œ œ w
w
˙
Ó
and
all,
˙
and
Rit.
kiss’d it,
scars
and
all.
Rit.
kiss’d it,
scars
and
all.
—8—
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