ALONE

LYRICS

From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life, was drawn
From ev’ry depth of good and ill,
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that ‘round me roll’d
In its autumn tint of gold.
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass’d me flying by.
From the thunder and the storm
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heav’n was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Composer notes*

While the piece works well as a purely choral statement, for performances the director may choose to add some theatrical elements as follows:

Each singer shall have a small flashlight. Turn down the house lights for the ensemble to start the piece in darkness. The tenor soloist will move his flashlight 6 inches in front of his face just below chin level, similar to a microphone. A second or two before singing the flashlight will be turned on. The basses will do likewise in m.1 as will the sopranos and altos in m.5. Except for the tenors, all flashlights will be turned off at beat 4 of m.19, and then back on at their respective entries.

Finally, at the word “demon”, all members of the chorus will move their flashlights (still on) closer to their faces and slightly lower, while moving them in a tight semicircle from side to side in an effort to cast eerie shadows. Then at beat 4 of m.54 all flashlights except those of the basses and tenor soloist will be turned off. The basses will steady the movement of the flashlights at beat 4 of m.54 before turning them off at beat 4 of m.57. The tenor soloist’s flashlight will be turned off as he completes his final phrase. Following an appropriate darkness, the houselights can be turned back on.

In the score, flashlight “ON” is indicated by a white square and flashlight “OFF” is indicated by a black square.