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Timothy Hoekman
Timothy Hoekman Music
Faith, Hope, Love
Whimsical poems by Emily Dickinson.
SSA chorus, piano
“Faith, Hope, Love” is an Emily Dickinson triptych. Dickinson was never afraid to challenge the status quo, and that is apparent in the three short poems set to music here. Her images are vibrant and memorable; her use of vocabulary and syntax is delightfully original. Hoekman’s setting of these words gives the piano and all three parts of the SSA chorus equal shares in expressing the text. The music encapsulates the whimsical yet deeply felt ideas that Dickinson held about the topics of faith, hope, and love.
Text
“Faith” is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see –
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
_____________________________
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of Me.
______________________________
I had no time to Hate –
Because
The Grave would hinder Me –
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish – Enmity –
Nor had I time to Love –
But since
Some Industry must be –
The little Toil of Love –
I thought
Be large enough for Me –
-Emily Dickinson
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