I: MY FLIGHT FOR HEAVEN
for SATB a cappella with divisi
Song: My Flight For Heaven
Ensemble: The Master Singers
Conductor: Dr. Gary R. Schwartzhoff
Purchase Sheet Music
Available for SATB with divisi. Contact Zach to purchase sheet music.
My Flight For Heaven
Charm me asleep, and melt me so
With thy delicious numbers,
That, being ravish'd, hence I go
Away in easy slumbers.
Ease my sick head,
And make my bed,
Thou power that canst sever
From me this ill,
And quickly still,
Though thou not kill
My fever.
Fall on me like the silent dew,
Or like those maiden showers
Which, by the peep of day, do strew
A baptism o'er the flowers.
Melt, melt my pains
With thy soft strains;
That, having ease me given,
With full delight
I leave this light,
And take my flight
For Heaven.
-Robert Herrick
Composer Notes:
Ever since I was a younger boy, I have always wondered what happens when you die. In those final moments what will I be thinking? Will I be at peace, or will I have something on my mind? Is it really my choice to let go, or does it just happen? Once it is over, where will my soul go, up to heaven or is there nothing? I think that last question is something I have always feared. Believing in something you can’t see or comprehend can always be a frightening thought.
When I chose to set this text, I knew how difficult it was going to be. First of all, I had sung a setting of this text once before set beautifully by Blake Henson. Next, writing a piece that could stand up to my, “I Will Lift My Eyes” that would compliment it and make the whole cycle a powerful human experience with a beautiful statement. I had thought a lot about what I wanted this piece to say, but was not sure how to say it. Really, there was so much going through my mind while setting this text that for the first time in a long time, I was afraid to compose. I actually started and trashed 5 versions of this composition before getting it right. The night before it was due, I trashed the whole thing again and this piece was the result.
Was this composition a gift from Heaven? I would like to believe so, but I have no way of knowing that for sure. All I do know is that I have been blessed in my life. If I have learned anything, it is to appreciate every moment that one is given. Being happy is a choice that we all have to make. Why be pessimistic about the en, for all we know it could be the beginning. We will never know what becomes of us until that moment comes and we take our last breath. All we can do is have faith and believe that everything will be okay.
~ Zachary J. Moore
