The Steady Light

This short piece is the perfect closer for your concert or worship service. The words are not specifically religious, but speak to themes of spirituality and legacy, honoring our place in the world and those who have gone before us. It is available in a variety of voicings and accompaniment options.

Program Notes:

None of us are who we are without the people who have shown us the way, and we all show the way to those who will follow. We must choose carefully which light to follow. This piece is dedicated to our heroes, those people who made the choice to be the light for us.

Notes on preparation and performance:

Take your time on the connection points, and allow yourselves plenty of rubato. Let each line finish, then move ahead into the next line.

Text

--Sheila Dunlop

Let my footfall on this blessed earth tread lightly as a falling leaf.

Let my shadow from this blessed sun shut no one from the light.

Let my dance beneath these holy stars grow stronger with the years.

Let my heart expand with sky-wide love.

Those who go before

hold high the steady light

that shows me

where I am.

Unaccompanied Versions

Versions available for Mixed chorus divisi, SSAA, and TTBB

Difficulty rating: Moderate
Duration 1:40

Male Ensemble Northwest singing the TTBB unaccompanied version

This perusal score shows pages from each version.

Accompanied Versions

Voice options: Two part, SATB, solo or unison

Accompaniment options: piano or organ or string quartet or string orchestra

Difficulty rating: Easy
Duration 1:40

Walla Walla University "I Cantori" singing the SATB/piano version

This perusal score shows the SATB voicing with the piano and string orchestra accompaniments

$1.75 for vocal/accompaniment score
$15.00 for set of quartet parts
$20.00 for set of string orchestra parts