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About the Composer
Ellen Gilson Voth
Graphite Publishing
Seeing the same stars (SSAA)
Weaves together themes of universal belonging and justice.
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Seeing the Same Stars
SSAA choir and piano
Winner of the 2020 Michigan Choral Commission Consortium Composition Competition
“Seeing the Same Stars” provides cultural richness on many levels. The text, inspired by African American abolitionist Sojourner Truth, speaks to universal desire for human dignity and belonging. Voth has cleverly woven the anthem “We Shall Overcome” into the piano accompaniment, which then compliments the dueting treble voices. The result is a deeply meaningful composition, beautifully crafted and deeply meaningful.
Text
Those are the same stars,
And that is the same moon,
That look down upon your brothers and sisters,
And which they see as they look up to them.
– Sojourner Truth*
We all look to the same stars, with hope that one day,
All of us can see them clearly,
And reach them as if to touch them,
Shimmering in a cloudless sky.
Each of us,
All of us,
Under the same stars.
– Ellen Gilson Voth
*In her narrative, Sojourner Truth described memories of her mother looking up at the stars, and talking about the
comfort and solace she found in them, even through the loss of her family. After her freedom from slavery, Sojourner
Truth dedicated her life to the abolitionist movement and was a leading advocate for human rights, including women’s
right to vote. She lived the last years of her life in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Text source: The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Dictated by Sojourner Truth (ca.1797-1883); edited by Olive Gilbert; Appendix by
Theodore D. Weld. Boston: The Author, 1850.
$2.15 per licensed PDF
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