Know You How Many Petals Falling?
Item
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Score title
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Know You How Many Petals Falling?
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Composer
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Chen Yi
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Program note
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Know You How Many Petals Falling? for S.A.T.B. Chorus was commissioned by the 6th World Symposium on Choral Music for the Elmer Iseler Singers who premiered the work on August 11th, 2002 in Minneapolis.
The composition is a setting of the poem Know You How Many Petals Falling? by Meng Hao-ran (689-740, Tang Dynasty), translated into English by the composer.
Know You How Many Petals Falling? is dedicated to the memory of the New York firefighters who sacrificed themselves to protect thousands of fellow citizens at the 9/11 tragedy, to express my compassion for the victims and their families, to denounce terrorist acts, and to call for peace in the future.
Spring dreams unconscious of dawning, Not woke up till I hear birds singing; O night long wind and showers – Know you how many petals falling?
Poem by Meng Hao-ran (689-740, Tang Dynasty)
English translation by Chen Yi
Chen Yi