Song of My Heart


          — "Absolutely lovely and inspirational, the harmonies are glorious!"
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​Nature song cycle
for SATB chorus, flute & piano
10.5'​
​Poems by Elizabeth Wright Shippee  (1915-1936)
1. Heritage  / 2. Numbers  /  3. Wind  /  4. Courage
$5.00
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PREVIEW MUSIC BELOW
Tim's music conjures the serenity of the natural world. — Ensemble Altera
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​The four movements—featuring voice, piano and flute—transport the listener to a forest. A flute is a bird song. The piano mimics raindrops, and soprano voices evoke the sound of a summer breeze. — Wheaton News
Recordings with and without preview score:
1. Heritage 2. Numbers (02:18)  3. Wind (04:12) 4. Courage (7:16) 
NOTES
Elizabeth Wright Shippee of Pawtucket, RI was a lover of art, music, and nature.    In the summer of 1933, approaching her freshman year at nearby Wheaton College, Elizabeth spent the long, lazy days of summer vacation at the family farm in Foster, RI, retreating to its dense woodlands to contemplate life and write poetry.  Her evocative set of poems, Song of My Heart revels in the lessons of nature and its cycles of life and death and regenesis.  Sadly, Elizabeth herself was denied the poetic beauty she saw in aging through life's seasons.  Her poetry takes on added poignancy in the context of Elizabeth's untimely death during her senior year at Wheaton, the result of a car crash as she and friends returned to campus from a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert.   Inspired by the magic and musicality of Elizabeth's poetry, I have set four poems for choir, flute and piano.

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