Cardinal Feather - Treble Chorus and Piano

Ensemble: Treble Chorus (Unison), Piano

Duration: 2 Minutes

Written: Fall 2018

Text by Composer

Premiere: Dec. 2018,
-Jireh Swift and Elwyn G. Campbell
Elementary Schools, New Bedford, MA

I wrote Cardinal Feather for my elementary choirs at both Swift and Campbell Elementary Schools in New Bedford, MA. The song was written for our 2018 winter concert performance, where of course, the bulk of the audience was at least a generation apart from every student in the ensemble.

I wanted to create a musical landscape full of the anticipation and innocence I felt as a child in the late 20th Century, and to fill the text with things I had imparted to my students. Birdsong, being appreciative, less concern with consumerism, and creating moments to be with yourself and your thoughts, rather than looking for quick distractions.

How do experience and tradition change from generation to generation? Is there any way to know, secondhand? Our century is much quicker than the last, and while it’s easy to record and capture just about anything, there’s no way any of us will ever know exactly how the quiet moments of winter felt to those who were here before us.

With this song, I want students to question how tradition changes, and understand while they may never really  know the answer, it is still important to ask, exercise curiosity, and contemplate. I hope the caregivers and families in the audience will do the same. The title “Cardinal Feather,” refers to the act of seeing something, and wondering how it came to be, and what it will become; the cardinal, where it had been, and where it went.

*Click on each title to view a score preview