The Fall of America (2004)
The Mission of Virgil (close-up), illustration from Canto 2 of “Inferno” of “The Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) pen & ink, pencil, w/c on paper by Blake, William (1757-1827).
In the Composer’s Own Words
“When the New York Treble Singers asked me to write a choral piece after the onset of the Iraqi conflict of 2003, I wrote The Fall of America. While their brief had nothing to do with a response to war, I had a need to make one. In that response, and following a trip to Russia just previously, I set out to counteract the ugliness of war with the beauty of sonorities that I experienced in Russia and the imagery in William Blake’s poetry. To express this dichotomy of ugliness and beauty, I chose to pair rich, sonorous harmonies with an early Renaissance-style string technique used in the accompaniment. The mixing of the two Blake poems — The Garden of Love and For the Sexes — with the few lines of Ginsberg’s The Fall of America gives a modern feel to the words and enhances the meaning.”
–Eleonor Sandresky, 2004
Details
The Fall of America
(2004) 7 min
for SATB mixed chorus, with violin & violoncello
Music by Eleonor Sandresky
Texts by William Blake, with additional texts Allen Ginsberg
Orchestrations: Also available for SSAA chorus and piano accompaniment; (2022) for SATB mixed chorus and string orchestra. Scores available upon request.
World Premiere: April 18, 2004 | Vox Vocal Ensemble / George Steel, conductor; Tom Chiu, violin; Okkyung Lee, cello | St Peter's Episcopal Church, New York, NY.
Commissioned by the New York Treble Singers in 2003 for SSAA chorus and piano and premiered in January 2004.
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Publishing & Licensing Information
To perform The Fall of America, please contact varsa@sandresky.com. Scores available upon request.
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