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About the Composer
Timothy C. Takach
Timothy C. Takach Publications
Goodbye, Then (SAB)
A poignant way to say goodbye in any context: the emotions are very real and palpable.
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Goodbye, Then
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Goodbye, Then
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Goodbye, Then
SAB, clarinet, piano
It’s hard to find the best way to say goodbye in any situation – losing a loved one, a friend moving away, graduation, leaving home, the loss of a pet. Doug Wilhide’s beautiful poem has been set expertly by Takach – combining the nuance of intimacy with the power of a choral piece. “Goodbye, Then” is a moving lyrical work that your singers will continue to enjoy year after year. This will be a highlight of any program, and it is also a perfect choice for a senior song or graduation piece.
Composer’s Notes
When I first wrote this for the MN All-State Men’s Choir, I chose to set a text that I would have wanted to sing when I was that age. It’s a poem by Minnesota poet Doug Wilhide, and it talks about saying goodbye to someone you are close to. It could be about a friend moving away, about leaving home to go to college, about losing a loved one. The context is never stated, but the emotions are all very real and palpable. In my writing I always hope that the singers embrace the song and jump in headfirst, and my hope was that the singers will let their guards down and sing or express what they want without fear of ridicule.
Soon after I heard it performed I realized that the poem had enormous potential for any singer, not just men. It’s a text that is at once very personal but also so vague that any one singer can project their own story onto it and get just as much satisfaction as the next. I was asked to do versions of it for other choirs, and I happily agreed.
– Timothy C. Takach
Text
We said goodbye then
With people there
So it wouldn’t be quite so hard.
And we had said what we wanted to say
Or at least we knew by then
What didn’t need to be said,
So it wasn’t so hard.
We would see each other again
Thought we didn’t know when
And we could call and talk
Across the thousands of miles between us.
After all we had known each other
All this time
And would know each other
always and anywhere.
So it wasn’t hard.
But – both of us – our eyes were tears
And the world and the people were not there,
And that last hug –
How could I not hold you?
How could we separate our hearts
When we felt them beating together?
And how – God, how – could I let go?
– Doug Wilhide
$2.15 per licensed PDF
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