The Blue Ridge
for SATB Chorus and Piano
Text by Harriet Monroe
Published with Elaine Hagenberg Music
Elaine Hagenberg captures the hushed majesty of an evening in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with crystal clear melodies and fervent harmonies illuminating the poem of Harriet Monroe. The ascent and descent of the opening lines trace the mountains’ silhouette against the sky, followed by the treble and bass voices that draw us by turn to view each detail of the scene and listen for the wisdom of the mountains. Accomplished high school choirs and beyond will find beauty and meaning as they explore this piece.
Still and calm
In purple robes of kings,
The low-lying mountains sleep at the edge of the world.
The forests cover them like mantles;
Day and night
Rise and fall over them like the wash of waves.
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Asleep they reign.
Silent they say all.
Hush me, O slumbering mountains-
Send me dreams.