Wind Ensemble & Concert Band

Chamber Works

Tell Where I Lie

for SSA choir and violoncello
Duration: c. 2'30"
October 2013

Perusal score coming soon

Tell Where I Lie is based on the poem Ode on Solitude by Alexander Pope. In his lines, Pope describes and explores the pastoral aspects of solidarity. Tell Where I Lie is a setting of this poem, which is reproduced below:

Happy the man, whose wish and care
   A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
                            In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
   Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
                            In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcernedly find
   Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
                            Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
   Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
                            With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
   Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
                            Tell where I lie.

(text in public domain)