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About the Composer
Shara Nova
Shara Nova (Blue Sword Publishing)
Spring Hymns
A song for children that develops breath, independence, and listening skills while exploring our place within the natural world.
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How Far Can a Bird Fly?
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Laudamus Sancta Matrem
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A Thief! A Thief!
SA choir and piano
Inspired by Benjamin Britten’s Friday Afternoons, these songs are the first in a series entitled Spring Hymns, written to teach young singers melodic independence through call and response, canons, and sustained breath in longer vocal lines. Rather than emphasizing sweetness, these songs celebrate mischief, curiosity, reverence, and the thrill of discovery. In acknowledging that which is greater than ourselves, we become “right-sized,” recognizing our place in the universe as both small and sacred, humble and divine. I hope that by fostering connection to the natural world, our children may grow to be protectors of the nature that sustains—and truly is—us all.
Composer’s Notes
1. How Far Can a Bird Fly?
Text
1. How Far Can a Bird Fly?
How far can a bird fly?
There to here,
And as it is going,
There, to here,
Just what is it thinking?
Upon the air,
Free,
Remembering yesteryear,
How it knows,
Where to go,
Coo-coo,
Coo-coo.
Mother showed,
Father showed,
How far can a bird fly…
2. Laudamus Sancta Matrem
Laudamus sancta matrem,
To you I call,
The long night, it is breaking,
Will you again come to renew,
Though amazed by strange things humans do,
Daylight on us all to you in plain view,
Imbue the high and low with sight like thine,
No one favored, your grace defined,
Laudamus sancta matrem,
Into your arms I fall.
Gloria, gloria, gloria.
3. A Thief! A Thief!
There is a thief round here, a thief! A thief!
One who likes sparkly things,
Buttons and bottle caps, tinsel and leaf,
There is a thief! A thief! A thief!
If I sit very still, watchful and waiting,
I may spot him, I may spot him, shh!
Mmm, mmm, mmm,
Who could the thief be,
Mmm, mmm, mmm,
Oh, my! There goes the smuggler!
I caught him, caught him, caught him,
It’s a magpie, a magpie,
A thief! A thief! A thief!
It’s a magpie! It’s a magpie!
-Shara Nova
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