To See the Sky

An orange and yellow leaf hanging from a tree branch

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SKU: RP023

Price: $2.00

Length: 7'30"

Instrumentation: SATB choir

Delivery: PDF score will be delivered via email within a few days

Blinded by a leafy crown I looked neither up nor down—but the little leaves that die have left me room to see the sky

To See the Sky, written for Aliro Voices, directed by Michael Jeffrey, is a setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Leaves”. Sara Teasdale illustrates in her poetry that we can become blinded by our own comforts and beliefs—our leaves which shield us from the world around us—and that sometimes it takes the loss of those comforts before we realize what else we’re missing in life. This piece is a journey, a process, from loss and grief to a new realization of freedom.

One by one, like leaves from a tree

All my faiths have forsaken me;

But the stars above my head

Burn in white and delicate red,

And beneath my feet the earth

Brings the sturdy grass to birth.

I who was content to be

But a silken-singing tree,

But a rustle of delight

In the wistful heart of night—

I have lost the leaves that knew

Touch of rain and weight of dew.

Blinded by a leafy crown

I looked neither up nor down—

But the little leaves that die

Have left me room to see the sky;

Now for the first time I know

Stars above and earth below.

Recording of To See the Sky by Aliro Voices