No Brief Candle (with SATB chorus)

Description

Stamp, Jack

for Wind Ensemble and SATB Chorus

Inspired by a quote by George Bernard Shaw, No Brief Candle celebrates the career and life of John R. Locke upon his retirement as Director of Bands at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This powerful work combines the forces of a wind ensemble with a full SATB choir and passages for solo soprano voice.

Program Notes: John Locke and I have been friends since he first arrived in North Carolina in the early 1980s. In our over 35-year friendship we have worked, laughed, and cried together. So, imagine my delight when Kevin Geraldi asked me to write a work honoring John’s career at UNCG. Earlier in 2019, I had come up with a little motive and developed it, not knowing what piece it would become. Following the commission request, I quickly realized that my motive, having a “Hindemithian” quality to it, would work perfectly in this piece. I recalled when John had his mentor, Harry Begian, to UNCG to conduct the Hindemith Symphony in B-flat. John was both proud and terrified! Dr. Geraldi also shared a George Bernard Shaw quote which John had framed on his office wall. Since John had told me that his favorite work of mine was Four Maryland Songs, I decided to include a setting of the Shaw quote for soprano voice.

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations.”– George Bernard Shaw

Grade: 5
Duration: 9’30”