For Choir
Composed: 2020
Performed by Phi Mu Alpha and Sigma Alpha Iota Combined Choir, Winter 2020 Recital (Northwestern University)
Conducted by Justin Beaman
World Premiere
After watching Little Women by Greta Gerwig, I fell in love with the film - not only because it told a wonderful, emotional story about a young adult who wanted to do something meaningful with her life, but also because of the way the story was told. This particular telling of this story (which have been told in numerous adaptions throughout the past) was beautifully crafted in this nonlinear narrative, showing timelines of both youth and adulthood in well-crafted juxtaposition. This narrative choice fascinated me and prompted me to think about how important the telling of the story was - almost as important as the story itself.
Therefore, I adapted some words from the original text of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (a few lines that meant the most to me) and used them, though sparingly, in the creation of this choral work. The very sparse use of text is a departure from choral works which often either are sung entirely with words, or entirely without words, and thus represents my own take on how to uniquely tell a story.