Aaron Copland/The Promise of Living

[TheJameslehr]

Could actually be the best song ever written, instrumental or sung. very evocative esp. here.

[LSysyn15]

I played the band version just last year. Great piece. Great job!

[MtnSiren89]

Very well done. We're doing this opera at the college I attend, and I'm Beth! :) So excited to see it all come together!

[lalalize7]

The tenor part at "we plant each row..." is amazing. Very well done

[eotto2001]

Bravo!

[boleroinferno]

Sounds like there are some range and/or fatigue issues in the bass and alto sections.

The altos seem to be overdoing their vibrato (to mask weakness in their sound). The basses sound just plain dry.

Wonderful still though.

This piece was written for instruments and adapted for vocals, so it is obvious why many singers have trouble with it.

I had the pleasure of performing this at ACDA Honor Choir in Amherst, MA in 2008. That was the best day of my life. (Kalinka dancer.)

[mastersinger47]

Are you sure about the provenance of this?

It's from the opera "The Tender Land" and I'm almost 100% certain this is a quartet by the leads in the opera that was later adapted for chorus. Of course perhaps you meant that the original had orchestral accompaniment.

Concur on the apparent issues in the parts. Still pretty darn good all the same (and regardless of provenance :).

[boleroinferno]

Oh... you could be right about that.

My conductor explained the background of the piece and composer when I performed it. Being myself unfamiliar with Copeland, when I found numerous examples of unorthodoxy in the score I /assumed/ that they had resulted from arranged instrumentals.

The instrumental version was the only one I could find for a long while too, so I guess I jumped to conclusions. Dang, I can't seem to find my score...

[sichoralsociety]

You're both kind of right... This is the main piece of Copland's opera "The Tender Land" In the opera it is a quintet for the 5 main leads. The divisi is BBTSA.

This is Copland's adaptation for choir and 2 pianos. I have seen it performed with choir and Copland's original orchestration from the opera. Appreciate your comments and discussion here.

[artmania1990]

love the tenor(s?) and sopranos. not digging the altos or basses too much. the altos' tone doesn't fit with the choir, and i wish the basses had a more beautiful sound like those tenor(s)...

beautiful nonetheless

[julietspring7]

I was touched when I heard this song. It is, by far, one of the most beautiful pieces composed by a very gifted American composer. It was "the" song I used as my wedding march in 1983. (My husband passed away in 2007.) We both had the pleasure of singing it ourselves with our church choir years ago. The crescendo at the end is magnificent and grand and always brings tears to my eyes. The SI Choral Society sings it as it should be sung: Strong, proud, and beautiful! Thank you!

[anuteamsterium]

@julietspring7 I saw the opera when the USC music department performed it back in 1990 in what was intended to be a tribute to Copland on his 90th birthday. But his passing made it all the more poignant. The piece always brings tears to my eyes too. Tears of joy!