In Flanders Fields by Dan Davison TB - Sheet Music

SKU: CF.BL1413

UPC: 672405012157. 6.875x10.5 inches. Key: G minor. English. Poem by John McCrae, 1872-1918.

In Flanders Fields by Dan Davison is a powerful tenor–bass setting of the iconic World War I poem. A beautifully haunting piano accompaniment supports long, sustained vocal lines that encourage tone development and expressive singing. Thoughtfully written for developing tenor–bass choirs, this arrangement provides both musical challenge and a moving sense of reflection and honor. Also available for SA(T)B voices (BL1434).
John McCrae wrote this poem in 1915, while serving as a Canadian medical officer in Belgiumduring World War I. Germany had invaded Belgium (who had been neutral) and the fightingwas gruesome. McCrae wrote this poem after witnessing thousands of his countrymen beingkilled, whose graves were marked only with simple wooden crosses. The heartfelt message inthe poem comes from the point of view of the soldiers who have died. They are pleading fromthe grave for those who are living to finish the work they failed to complete. In this sense, thepoem is a “call to arms.”The poppy is unique because it has seeds that can lie dormant for years, and then grow whenthe ground is disturbed. Flanders battlefields were disrupted not just by artillery, but also fromthe construction of foxholes, and sadly, from the digging of graves. The scarlet corn poppygrew abundantly in these fields, especially among the crosses that marked the graves.McCrae’s poem became so widely read that the poppy became linked forever with the memoryof World War I. The poppy’s resilience later became a symbol of sacrifice, remembrance, andhope.The minor mode was chosen for this song to emphasize the forlorn nature of the text. Thearpeggios in the piano part are meant to represent a gentle wind blowing the poppies betweenthe crosses. The vocal parts are to be sung with some intensity, especially at letter D to createa feeling of desperation of those who have fallen.Duration: Approx. 3:15In Flanders Fields________In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe live, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields Also available for SA(T)B voices (BL1434).