Haiku

Parts: SATB + Soli + Piano + Percussion
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Description: “In this world we walk on the roof of hell gazing at flowers”

Haiku is a meditation on the fragile play between the suffering and pleasure of living encapsulated in this 18th century Japanese poem by Kobayashi Issa. The choral parts move from unison to divisi across the piece, while bird-like soloists interact playfully with the percussion. The piano provides full, rich jazz-inflected chordal foundation. Haiku is excerpted from my secular liturgy “The Song Among Us.”

This composition is also available as an arrangement with string quartet here.