After the Winter

for SATB choir

duration - 3 min. 30 sec.

After the Winter is a setting of the poem of the same name by Claude McKay.  The poem exists in the public domain in two versions, with the only difference between the two coming within the last two lines of the poem.  For this setting, I chose to use the version found in The Book of American Negro Poetry.  The decision was made because I felt the concluding lines in this version created a stronger ending for the piece.  The other version reads, “With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near/And ferns that never fade”.  Although the alliterative penultimate line would have been fun to set, I felt the concluding line did not allow a musical setting a proper conclusion.  By using the version from the anthology I was able to end the piece with a feeling of conclusion, and also create a more coherent form by utilizing certain motives from the music in the first stanza.

                                                                                                -Ryan Jesperson
                                                                                                     8/11/2008