I gotta tell you, this one is really special to me.
A work for SSA chorus and piano, "Orpheus with his lute made trees" was commissioned by the Franklin High School Treble Chorus and their director, Olivia Goliger. Olivia is a good friend and without a doubt one of the finest musicians I have ever known. And the recording we managed to get after a fairly humble start? It's overwhelming. She is very proud of her singers and so am I.
The text for this piece is found in Shakespeare's Henry VIII and tells of Orpheus, the legendary musician whose musical abilities were so powerful that trees, mountaintops, the sea et al., all obeyed his commands. What's more, while those lines are nothing short of profound and eloquent, it is the final tercet that reads like a mission statement for musicians, like a motto we have tattooed on our souls, if you will:
In sweet music is such art, Killing care and grief of heart Fall asleep, or hearing, die.
I hope you enjoy this spirited setting of "Orpheus with his lute made trees!"