Sail Away

Poet/Lyricist: 

Rabindranath Tagore

A gentle, buoyant piano ostinato sets the tone for this setting of a poem from Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize winning Gitangali collection. A bass section solo leads the way on a tender, lyrical, metaphorical pilgrimage to “no country and to no end.” Commissioned by Peterborough Male Voice Choir for a 2024 Festival of T/B choirs in the UK.

Level: 

Moderate
Item Voicing/Instrumentation Duration Price Audio View Score Quantity
JS-124
Licensed PDF 		TTBB, piano 3:30 $2.50 https://joanszymko.com/sites/joanszymko.com/files/audio_samples/Sail%20Away%20-%20Joan%20Szymko..mp3

Audio Credits: 

Peterborough Male Voice Choir, Will Prideaux, Director
Text

No. 42 Gitangali (Song Offerings)

Rabindranath Tagore (1862-1941)

Early in the day it was whispered that
we should sail in a boat,
only thou and I, and never a soul in the world
would know of this our pilgrimage
to no country and to no end.

In that shoreless ocean, at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies,
free as waves, free from all bondage of words.

Is the time not come yet?
Are there works still to do?
Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore
and in the fading light the seabirds
come flying to their nests.

Who knows when the chains will be off,
and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset,
vanish into the night?

public domain

itemtext: 

Licensed PDF

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