SATB, trumpet
A text of universal spirituality, expressed in the metaphor of a flower. This setting of the poetry of Tagore ranges from gentle mystery to expansive warmth.
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Program Note
Gitanjali for choir and trumpet is set to one of the many poems which make up the extended work Gitanjali by RabindranathTagore. A renowned Bengali poet, artist and composer, Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 (largely for his own English translation of the Gitanjali). The translation of Gitanjali is “an offering of songs” or, because of the inherent devotional connotation, “a prayer offering of songs.”
Gitanjali was commissioned by the trumpeter Brian Chin for the Universal Language Project
Performance Note
The work is most effective with the trumpet placed at a distance from the choir.
Text
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not!
I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland,
but honor it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it.
I fear lest the day end before I am aware,
and the time of offering go by.
Though its color be not deep and its smell be faint,
use this flower in thy service
and pluck it while there is time.