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Lola Ridge Songs: It's strange about stars... (2020)

for TTBB choir | 00:03:00

by Melissa Dunphy | text by Lola Ridge

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Originally for treble chorus, this TTBB version was arranged for Cantus, in a program telling Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl.

See this post for more information about the development of this work.

"There’s much beauty to be found in Melissa Dunphy’s “It’s Strange About Stars …” [Rob Hubbard, Twin Cities Pioneer Press]


It's strange about stars...
From Sun-Up [IV. Betty] by Lola Ridge (1920)

It's strange about stars ...
You have to be still when they look at you.
They push your song inside of you with their song.
Their long silvery rays
sink into you and do not hurt.
It is good to feel them resting on you
like great white birds...
and their shining whiteness
doesn't burn like the sun —
it washes all over you
and makes you feel cleaner'n water.


Artwork by NASA.


Performances

  • 10 Feb, 2023: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, NC
  • 05 Nov, 2022: Utah Valley University Deep Green at Noorda Center for the Performing Arts, Orem, UT
  • 28 May, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at Abbazia Di San Bartolomeo Apostolo, Capannoli, Italy
  • 25 May, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at Sala Dei Priori, Perugia, Italy
  • 23 May, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at Chiesa Dei Cancelli, Senigallia, Italy
  • 21 May, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at Padiglione Della Ex Filanda, San Lucia Del Piave, Italy
  • 19 May, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at University of Milano, Milan, Italy
  • 30 Apr, 2022: Rutgers University Glee Club at Nicholas Music Center, New Brunswick, NJ
  • 26 Mar, 2022: Lehigh University Glee Club at Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem, PA
  • 25 Mar, 2022: Lehigh University Glee Club at Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem, PA
  • 05 Mar, 2022: Constellation Men's Ensemble with La Caccina at Alice Millar Chapel, Evanston, IL
  • 04 Mar, 2022: Constellation Men's Ensemble with La Caccina at Wicker Park Lutheran Church, Chicago, IL
  • 06 Nov, 2021: Rutgers University Glee Club at Kirkpatrick Chapel, New Brunswick, NJ
  • 24 Oct, 2021: Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers at Morrow United Methodist Church, Maplewood, NJ
  • 23 Oct, 2021: Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers at Grace Church, Madison, NJ
  • 29 Jan, 2021: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul, MN (Virtual)
  • 22 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Summit Center for Arts and Innovation, St. Paul, MN
  • 21 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater, MN
  • 20 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul, MN
  • 18 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Colonial Church, Edina, MN
  • 17 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Saint Bartholomew Catholic Church, Wayzata, MN
  • 15 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Hamline United Methodist Church, St. Paul, MN
  • 14 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Apple Valley, MN
  • 13 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Fridley High School Auditorium, Fridley, MN
  • 12 Dec, 2019: Cantus Vocal Ensemble at Westminster Hall, Minneapolis, MN