2018 Chamber Music Contest Entry
The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha
Program Notes

The Impossible Dream (The Quest) is the most popular song from the1965 Broadway musical Man of LaMancha and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name. The song was composed by Mitch Leigh,with lyrics written by Joe Darion. It was awarded the Contemporary Classics Award from the Songwriter’sHall of Fame.

I have always found the lyrics of TheImpossible Dream extremely moving:

Todream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,
To love pure and chaste from afar,
To try when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest,
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless,
No matter how far.

To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march
Into hell for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will be peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage.
To fight the unbeatable foe.
To reach the unreachable star.

This arrangement for flute choir can be performed with asfew as 5 players or a full flute choir with multiple players on a part. It is scored for 3 flutes, alto flute, bassflute, and optional contrabass flute.

Broadway
Movies
Popular
Ballad

Phyllis Avidan Louke is a flutist and award-winning composerand arranger with more than 70 published pieces to her credit. www.phyllislouke.com

A list of Phyllis Louke’s SMP publications with full lengthrecordings can be found at http://www.phyllislouke.com/compositions/digital-downloads-smp-publications/