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Her Sacred Spirit Soars

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SATB Double Choir

Note from Composer

The Heartland Festival, for whom this work was commissioned, had for years been home to a thriving Shakespearean festival. So when they asked Tony Silvestri and me to write an original work for them, we immediately decided that the poem should be a traditional fourteen line sonnet. I told Tony that I would like to send the work with the phrase “long live fair Oriana,” an homage to the Renaissance works written in tribute to the ‘Virgin Queen,’ Elizabeth I. Not only did Tony include the line at the end of his brilliant sonnet, he made the poem an acrostic: the first letter of each line spells out “HAIL FAIR ORIANA.”

Her Sacred Spirit Soars was commissioned by the Heartland Festival, and is dedicated in gratitude to Dr. Robert Demaree. It was first performed on June 8th, 2002, in Platteville, Wisconsin.

The Text

Her sacred spirit soars o’er gilded spires,
And breathes into creative fires a force;
In well-tuned chants and chords of countless choirs
Lives ever her immortal shadowed source.
From age to age the roll of poets grows;
And yet, a lonely few are laurel-crowned,
In whose sweet words her inspiration shows,
Revealing insights deep and thoughts profound.
O shall Cecelia, or shall Goddess Muse
Reach then to me across eternal skies?
Is heaven’s quick’ning fire but a ruse,
Abiding rather here before mine eyes?
Nearer than I dream’d is She whose fame
All poets sing, whose glory all proclaim:
“LONG LIVE FAIR ORIANA!”

Charles Anthony Silvestri, b.1965

Duration

5 minutes

Year of Composition

2002

Licensing

Boosey & Hawkes

Purchase

US: Hal Leonard
UK: Musicroom
World: Music Shop Europe
Digital: SheetMusicDirect

Recording

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