Tenting Tonight

Tenting Tonight

$2.00

The iconic Civil War song by Walter Kittredge is expressively rendered for SATB chorus a cappella.  The peace of evening is clearly evoked, amidst the grief of war: “Many are the hearts that are weary tonight, wishing for the war to cease.  Many are the hearts that are looking for the right to see the dawn of peace.”  Toward the end, the arrangement builds to a great hymn-like outcry from the heart before ending quietly as it began, like soldiers singing quietly around a fading fire.

Available Voicings: SATB a cappella

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Description

Background
The melodic simplicity of Kittredge’s classic Tenting Tonight is coupled with deep feeling, which together account for its enduring place in the songbook of American history.  I wished to let that beautiful simplicity form the character of the arrangement while also exploring the motivic and harmonic potential in the basic melodic material.  The keenness of war-weariness is magnified as the piece unfolds, with greater use of divisi and antiphonal textures that eventually peak in a collective hymn-like cry: “Many are the hearts…” 
Tenting Tonight is part of a set of pieces written between 2018 and 2020 for Colorado Springs Chorale, all connected to the human experience of war — with one piece each representing the Civil War, World War I (Owen’s Anthem), and World War II (Crosses on the Green).  An ongoing dialogue with commissioning conductor Deborah Jenkins Teske was a significant part of the creative process for all three of these pieces, which I thankfully acknowledge.

Additional information

Voicing

SATB a cappella

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