The Arrow and the Song

The Arrow and the Song

Year: 2023

Duration: ~2:00

Instrumentation: SATB Divisi Chorus

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Program Note

The Arrow and the Song was commissioned by Joel Lebois for Horizon, a choir of Prairie Voices, Inc (PVI) in Winnipeg. The poem “The Arrow and The Song” — written in the 19th-Century by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — is often interpreted as a text about regret over harsh words; however, in this reading of the poem, I have instead focused on themes of friendship, camaraderie, and of course, song, which can overcome such hardships. The piece premiered as an opener to Horizon’s “Lyrics and Lager” Concert at Young United Church (Winnipeg) on May 10th and 11th, 2024, and was a featured piece on their tour of Spain with the Edeta Arts Festival.

Text

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

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