I. “Paper Cranes”
Wings made of paper, wishes made of air
One sits by the window, so quiet
The world out there
Made of buses, made of clouds
Made of steel, made of cranes.
One sits by the window
Listens to the dreams
we dream, hears the hum
of each machine,
knows that
If you could see
the way my mind moves
You’d hear the music in me.
In my head, an endless number,
A bear with no name.
Some things will always be here
Do not need a name or end
Some things we’ll never
Ever understand.
Blue’s my favorite color
Ruby and Rose, my favorite names
The day after we’re born
Is when our real life begins.
How does the crane carry
my wish on its wings?
How does the star rising,
hold my handprint
In its blaze?
A thousand cranes tied together,
left hanging cloud to cloud,
until tattered by the breeze,
and when they are broken
our wish begins.
II. “Twenty Questions”
When you’re in a hospital bed
There’s not much to do
So you study the numbers,
follow the tubes,
ask yourself questions, like
Do elephants have belly buttons?
Do pandas like peanuts?
Do you think I’ll lose my smile,
when I’m a grown up?
The nurses keep going
home every day.
Just stay for one,
then a new one comes.
Twenty questions, it’s just a game
It says it can read my mind
But it doesn’t even know
what I’m talking about.
Don’t want to think about
all the things I’m missing,
all the time I’m spending here.
Don’t want to think, so instead
How many flavors of ice cream
Are there in the world?
What would a red whale look like,
in a red sea?
When you’re in a hospital bed
There’s not much to do
So you memorize your arm band,
the tune the I.V. sings.
Daddy ate a birthday candle
Just for fun.
Mom tells me she’s seen me
do the bravest things.
You ask me if it’s hard
to be here in this bed.
I tell you life is hard, no matter
where you’re living it.
I do know this
No game can prove me wrong
There is so much happy
and sad, so all of a sudden
& there isn’t anything
we wouldn’t do
for each other.
III. “Before We Get Dusty”
wish I had some bubble wrap
To pop with my feet
Want to jump, poke holes in paper
When it’s you, visiting me.
Feeling shy and thank you
Did you know my insides glow?
I swim like a fish, I dance like the wind
In the banana tree leaves.
I like pushing things
I like fighting and watching tv
I wish right now I was a bug
Climbing up your knee.
We’ll leave before we get dusty
We’ll run and climb every tree
Maybe tomorrow we’ll find some answers
Maybe we’ll all turn into bees.
I like to laugh and play with my grandpa,
I like ants in my p.j.s.
Do you wish you were a ball,
could roll and bounce off the walls with me?
I wish I was a builder
I’d build a house we’d decorate
With books and tickets, with money and dogs
With stickers and popsicle sticks.
On the ceiling we’ll find thoughts
Drifting and changing like the day,
We’ll lie on our backs and watch them
gather and carry our fears away.
We’ll leave before we get dusty
We’ll run and climb every tree
Maybe tomorrow we’ll find some answers
Maybe tomorrow we’ll leave.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe.
IV. “Where Beauty Comes From”
Lying on our backs, somewhere a guitar plays
we sing along, no words,
just a song all our own.
Sometimes the only thing moving
are your eyes,
blinking
to the beat of a drum.
What song do you see?
A darting bird? The sun’s hello?
Where beauty comes from?
We flicker like fireflies, we shine
Stars to guide us above,
we all want to matter, just want
To be loved.
Breathe in and hold it
breathe out and let it go
Sometimes we’ve got to improvise,
just sing a song all our own.
sometimes I’ve got to back away
sometimes I need to hear you say this with me
sometimes my life’s
an uncertainty
but one day I’ll make
all the difference,
you will see
in the world
you will see
close your eyes now, imagine
how this world could spin
open them and tell me
where beauty comes from
breathe in
and hold it
breathe out…
– All poems by Julia Klatt Singer (2010)
1 review for Where Beauty Comes From (Cycle)
Gabrielle –
My multi-level youth chorus, The Young People’s Chorus of Erie, performed this cycle back in 2014. We loved it! The poetry is beautiful and beautifully set, and it was a perfect “anchor” piece for our spring concert (not to mention a lovely program title). Coincidentally, during the process of learning the piece, one of our choristers struggled with migraines for which she ultimately had to be hospitalized for several weeks, so this song cycle became extra poignant for us through that connection and through this chorister’s sharing with us about her experiences and the other young people she met while hospitalized.
The music itself is lovely and accessible. “Paper Cranes” and “Where Beauty Comes From” were the movements that my groups learned more readily. The writing for newly-changed boys’ voices is impeccable, and all my guys commented on how pleasing this music was for them to sing. My advanced mixed group also felt that the vocal writing was excellent in “Where beauty comes from,” and the piece really gave them a chance to be expressive and musical. “Before we get dusty” was a challenge for my advanced trebles, in part because it took them awhile to reconcile their own ages and skill levels (they’re mostly girls 13 and older) with the voice of the child/children in the poem (who seems a little younger). Having conversations about this issue and reassuring them that it’s ok to take on the perspective of a younger child (and not worry about how that makes the audience think of you) proved helpful and necessary. “Twenty Questions” is fun, and my training choir liked learning it. The slower and higher sections were tough for them, and they weren’t able to nail all the harmony parts in performance, but they got a lot out of the experience of learning it.
All told, it’s a great piece for a multi-level youth choir program. It’d also work well for a community, church, or even college choir collaboration with a children’s choir.