If ever two were one

At the 2024 Western ACDA Conference, several colleagues and I were fortunate to have lunch and listen to performing choirs with Charlene Archibeque. At one of the concert sessions, her setting of “The Cooling Shadow” was performed and thus prompted a deep dive into the writings of Anne Bradstreet. After spending several weeks with her works, several poems spoke to me, including “Silent Alone.” My setting of Bradstreet’s poem is the second movement in a set of Contemplations. To truly capture the beauty and meaning of the text, I chose to model this piece after Gregorian Chant. At all times, there is a drone which signifies solitude; the moving, chant inspired lines convey the contemplative moments that arrive in these moments.