“By the River” by Scott Gendel
“By the River” (music: Scott Gendel, text: Helen Hoyt) for SATB choir and piano. Commissioned by the Choral Arts Society Chorale, and premiered on Sunday, April 28, 2019 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Madison, WI. Music Director: Mikko Rankin Utevsky – Accompanist: Yana Avedyan.
The best way to describe this exciting work is to read Scott’s words…
“When the Choral Arts Society Chorale asked for a piece relating to water for their innovative concert about water and conservation in our region, I was quickly overwhelmed by the huge amount of material available to me. There’s just so much poetry and music about water, it’s hard to know which angle to take. But when I ran across Helen Hoyt’s little-known poem, I fell in love. Hoyt’s words manage to capture the danger and overwhelming power of rivers while also beautifully capturing how being immersed in water can feel transformative on a deep personal level. I wanted to capture that contrast in my music, and so this piece roars along dramatically like a rushing river, but also explores the sense of emptiness & calm left behind after the river rushes by.” – Scott Gendel
We were thrilled to sing it at our Spring 2019 concert. Each voice had a strong part to play in interpreting Scott’s piece. A recording of this composition is not yet available. Deep thanks of appreciation are extended to the generous contributions in support of the commission of this work: Ruth Brill, Danny Proud, Dean Schroeder and John W. Webber.
She was a guest editor for the September 1916 issue of “Others: A Magazine of the New Verse” (New York City). In the introductory “Retort,” she wrote, “At present most of what we know, or think we know, of women has been found out by men, we have yet to hear what woman will tell of herself, and where can she tell more intimately than in poetry?”[1] [2] Helen Hoyt interests included nature, love, mystery, beauty, the body and gender in her poetry, typically lyric.[3]
By the River
Wash from me all my weariness, waters;
Wash from me all my thoughts and purposes;
Wash from me all my desires and dreams and hopes,
And drown them in your torrents!
Oh, take me from myself and let me lose myself!
Let this incessant churning against the rocks,
This clumping, clumping, clumping of the water
Wash over my brain and wash my brain away!
Wash from me all my weariness, waters…
‘Til I am left at last empty of all that I was
All that I knew or was or wished to be;
Left empty and content and uncontending;
Languorous and numbed and lulled asleep.
More information about Scott’s other compositions and activities is available on Scott’s web site. It’s a treasure of accomplishment. Scott is indeed a Madison musical resource!
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