In Memoriam (SATB)

This work is written as a sort of requiem mass for those victims of the tragic shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June of 2016. Indeed, around Longfellow's stirring text, strands of the traditional requiem are found highlighting the vivid and striking imagery in Longfellow's words. It is my hope that this piece is received to be respectful and reverent to the memories of the victims.

A final word of thanks to Gerald Gurss, the director of One Voice Chorus and their Sotto Voce Ensemble. Without his support and guidance throughout this project, it would not have come to fruition.

I enter, and I see thee in the gloom

Of the long aisles, O poet saturnine!

And strive to make my steps keep pace with thine.

The air is filled with some unknown perfume;

The congregation of the dead make room

For thee to pass; the votive tapers shine;

Like rooks that haunt Ravenna's groves of pine,

The hovering echoes fly from tomb to tomb.

From the confessionals I hear arise

Rehearsals of forgotten tragedies,

And lamentations from the crypts below

And then a voice celestial that begins

With the pathetic words, "Although your sins

As scarlet be," and ends with "as the snow.”

from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

Sonnet III from The Divine Comedy