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Jeffrey Derus
Caribbean Blue Publishing (Jeffrey Derus)
I Dream A World
We must all share the dream of freedom for all of us to be free.
SATB Chorus & Piano
“I Dream A World” was commissioned and premiered by Scott Farthing and the Saddleback College Chamber Singers. Langston Hughes offers a moment of wisdom conveying that we can live in that perfect world if we all choose to do the work to find it. I chose to adapt the text by adding in “and woman”. We live in a time where women are still left out of the conversation; I wanted to acknowledge them in this work. The music has a flowing piano accompaniment as well as a beautiful melody shared between the SA voices and the TB voices. In the middle of the piece, you hear a sensitive reflection on sharing “the bounties of the earth”. This is where we are all too common with one another. We are from the same earth, and we are all responsible for each other. As a call to action, this piece is a great addition to any program themed on social justice, love, and the promise of freedom for all humankind.
Text
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man (and woman) is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!
– Langston Hughes
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