A Musical Statement after September 11, 2001 for SATB Chorus with various instrumental arrangements. Originally scored for string orchestra, 3 trumpets, organ and chorus.
The premier performance was recorded at:
The Church of the Epiphany
York Ave. at 74th Street, New York, NY
Lyrics by Ross Morgan.
They were gone.
In but a moment they were gone,
Great shafts, towering toward heaven.
They shook the ground.
They shook the earth
Down to its fiery heart
And left it weeping.
The smoke from Hell
Sears open sky.
Then silence
Leaves earth to cry.
A raven flies, an eagle soars
The raven cries, “They are no more
Nothing is forever here.
Eternity shall be their bier.”
“I will be swift, I strike with ease.
My talons cut mine enemies.
I’ll slice the world
And when appeased
I will make peace
And weep for these.”
A Phoenix sleeps at zero’s-ground.
The dead rise up to heavenly sound.
The dead will wake, the dead will rise.
Awake! Arise, and seek the sky!
“We shall not grieve our Babel towers.
New shafts of light will be our bowers.
And light, and light,
Light perpetual shine upon them.
And a dove will fly
Where the eagle roared.
Where the phoenix cried
There will be no war.
And the dove will fly
Where the eagle roared.
As the phoenix cries
If We war no more!