Description

 

Voicing - SSAATTBB Chorus, a cappella

Level - Advanced

Language - English

Category - Secular, Love, Blue, Dancing, Joy, South African Poetry

 

Gorgeous Blue Eyes comes from a larger set entitled the Four Wedding Songs which was dedicated as a wedding gift to Stephen and Stacey Squier on the eve of their wedding on July 29th, 2010. The four movements of the work were inspired by the tradition to give a bride "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue" with each movement in the piece representing these.

 

Finding the text for the final "something blue" movement was the most challenging seeing as the color blue is not typically associated with marriage or love. When I ran across this poem by South African poet, Tinka Boukes, I knew I had found the text for my final movemnet.

 

The piece opens with short, warm phrases as it layers the various harmonies and textures introduced before the first true climax. As the climax begins to relax, the music falls into the polyphonic textures of the second section. The piece eventually erupts into full, eight-part polyphony with the voices and motifs dancing around each other into the final resolution of the piece.

 

Although the piece comes from a larger, multi-movement work. Gorgeous Blue Eyes works well as a stand alone piece and has been performed by both high school and college students by itself for concert performances.