Choral SATB Choir and
Piano
SKU:
PR.312419020
From
Terra Nostra.
Composed by Stacy Garrop.
Sws. Performance Score.
12 pages. Duration 3:15.
Theodore Presser Company
#312-41902. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.312419020).
ISBN
9781491131862. UPC:
680160680474. 6.875 x
10.5 inches.
English.
Commission
ed by the San Francisco
Choral Society and the
Piedmont East Bay
Children’s Choir,
Terra Nostra is a
70-minute oratorio on the
relationship between our
planet and humankind, how
this relationship has
shifted over time, and
how we can re-establish a
harmonious balance. Part
I: Creation of the World
explores various creation
myths from different
cultures, culminating in
a joyous celebration of
the beauty of our planet.
Part II: The Rise of
Humanity examines human
achievements,
particularly since the
dawn of our Industrial
Age, and how these
achievements have
impacted the planet. Part
III: Searching for
Balance questions how to
create more awareness for
our planet’s
plight, re-establish a
deeper connection to it,
and find a balance for
living within our
planet’s
resources. In addition to
the complete oratorio,
stand-alone movements for
mixed chorus, and for
solo voice with piano,
are also available
separately.
Terra
Nostra focuses on the
relationship between our
planet and mankind, how
this relationship has
shifted over time, and
how we can re-establish a
harmonious balance. The
oratorio is divided into
three parts:Part I:
Creation of the World
celebrates the birth and
beauty of our planet. The
oratorio begins with
creation myths from
India, North America, and
Egypt that are integrated
into the opening lines of
Genesis from the Old
Testament. The music
surges forth from these
creation stories into
“God’s
World†by Edna St.
Vincent Millay, which
describes the world in
exuberant and vivid
detail. Percy Bysshe
Shelley’s
“On thine own
child†praises
Mother Earth for her role
bringing forth all life,
while Walt Whitman sings
a love song to the planet
in “Smile O
voluptuous cool-breathed
earth!†Part I ends
with “A Blade of
Grass†in which
Whitman muses how our
planet has been spinning
in the heavens for a very
long time.Part II: The
Rise of Humanity examines
the achievements of
mankind, particularly
since the dawn of the
Industrial Age. Lord
Alfred Tennyson’s
“Locksley
Hall†sets an
auspicious tone that
mankind is on the verge
of great discoveries.
This is followed in short
order by Charles
Mackay’s
“Railways
1846,†William
Ernest Henley’s
“A Song of
Speed,†and John
Gillespie Magee,
Jr.’s “High
Flight,†each of
which celebrates a new
milestone in
technological
achievement. In
“Binsey
Poplars,†Gerard
Manley Hopkins takes note
of the effect that these
advances are having on
the planet, with trees
being brought down and
landscapes forever
changed. Percy Bysshe
Shelley’s “A
Dirge†concludes
Part II with a warning
that the planet is
beginning to sound a
grave alarm.Part III:
Searching for Balance
questions how we can
create more awareness for
our planet’s
plight, re-establish a
deeper connection to it,
and find a balance for
living within our
planet’s
resources. Three texts
continue the
earth’s plea that
ended the previous
section: Lord
Byron’s
“Darknessâ€
speaks of a natural
disaster (a volcano) that
has blotted out the sun
from humanity and the
panic that ensues;
contemporary poet Esther
Iverem’s
“Earth
Screaming†gives
voice to the modern
issues of our changing
climate; and William
Wordsworth’s
“The World Is Too
Much With Us†warns
us that we are almost out
of time to change our
course.
Contemporary/agrarian
poet Wendell
Berry’s “The
Want of Peaceâ€
speaks to us at the
climax of the oratorio,
reminding us that we can
find harmony with the
planet if we choose to
live more simply, and to
recall that we ourselves
came from the earth. Two
Walt Whitman texts
(“A Child said,
What is the grass?â€
and “There was a
child went forth every
dayâ€) echo
Berry’s thoughts,
reminding us that we are
of the earth, as is
everything that we see on
our planet. The oratorio
concludes with a reprise
of Whitman’s
“A Blade of
Grass†from Part I,
this time interspersed
with an additional
Whitman text that
sublimely states,
“I bequeath myself
to the dirt to grow from
the grass I
love…â€My hope
in writing this oratorio
is to invite audience
members to consider how
we interact with our
planet, and what we can
each personally do to
keep the planet going for
future generations. We
are the only stewards
Earth has; what can we
each do to leave her in
better shape than we
found her?
