May This Day Be Wizardry

Story Behind the Piece

Written for SATB choir, piano, and triangle, the lyrics are about choosing to create magic for ourselves, first and foremost. And in so doing, our lives and the lives of those we touch get better!

The piece is based on a poem of Lawrence Schug, who writes poems packed with meaning. That meaning, for me, made this the perfect poem to base a choral work as my first venture into choral writing. And the message, of first casting a spell on ourselves holds true.

We start the magic with ourselves. Out of that can flow qualities of magic for others.

Musical Qualities

I make use of shifting meter and a good deal of up and down movement to give the piece the variety and surprise that one might find in watching a magician's magic act.

The piece's difficulty level allows college, semi-pro, and professional choirs to program it.

The sample recording was done live by Recorded ‘live’ at Grace Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, by “The First Readings Project – J. David Moore,
conductor.” We used 12 singers, with three on each part.