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About the Composer

Jenni Brandon

Jenni Brandon (b. 1977) is a composer of solo, vocal, choral, chamber, and orchestral music. Her music has been described as “some of the most imaginative, ingratiating recent chamber music for winds” (Steve Turpin, Morning Musicale, WBST), and her style is often influenced by nature and her surroundings. Ensembles and organizations that have commissioned, performed,...

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Graphite Publishing

Breakable

Name: Breakable
SKU: GP-B013
Availability: InStock

Jenni Brandon

The sand dollar is a metaphor for us and our place in the world – full of memory, journey, and a searching for home.

Difficulty: 3

Duration: 5-10 min.

GP-B013

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SA and piano

A beautiful setting for women’s voices, both lyrical and full of motion. Homophonic writing is paired with 2-part imitative response, and an independent piano part completes the landscape. The sand dollar is a metaphor for us and our place in the world – full of memory, journey, and a searching for home. “Breakable” was commissioned by Graphite Publishing for the 2015-16 Women’s Commissioning Consortium.

Blaine High School Bella Voce, MN, Benjamin Henschel, conductor
Bonneville High School, ID, Steve Dresen, conductor
Flower Mound High School Treble Choir, TX, Lindsay Swartwood, conductor
Frontier Trail Middle School, KS, Gretchen Harrison, conductor
Hopkins High School, MN, Philip Brown, conductor
Irondale High School Knightingales Choir, MN, Jason Etten, conductor
North Dakota State University Cantemus, ND, Charlette Moe, conductor
Omaha Northwest Magnet High Treble Ensemble & Treble Chorus, NE, Georg Getty, conductor
Oshkosh West High School, WI, Herb Berendsen, conductor
St. Michael – Albertville High School, MN, Joseph Osowski, conductor
Tiffin Columbian Freshmen/Sophomore Women’s Ensemble, OH, Kimberly Ridge, conductor
Voices Rising, MA, Leora Zimmer, Artistic Director

Text

You,
the sand dollar I have found,
are marked with little holes
in your nature,
powdered and breakable.
I feel your beauty
as I trace the patterns of your face,
and hold you from the salty grip of beachcombers. You
have been picked up many times
but never kept.
There is a void in your center,
where you carry the memory of your source,
where you vaguely remember the water
running through your body.
You wait for me to drop you where I found you
I smooth away the gritty sediment
and see the strength in you
who have emerged from the ocean
and carry the journey on your face.