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About the Composer
Elizabeth Alexander
Elizabeth Alexander (Seafarer Press)
Folks, I’m Telling You
Hard truth and deep love, delivered with edgy jazz harmonies and blues-inflected lines.
SSATB, piano
Langston Hughes’ short, sassy poem, “Advice,” contains an irresistible combination of hard truth and deep love. Elizabeth Alexander’s dynamic setting of this poem is packed with edgy jazz harmonies, straight-ahead rhythms, and soulful, blues-inflected lines. Though challenging, the piano part is lies under the hands in a gratifying way, a showpiece for a strong player. A few single-line solos offer opportunities for singers to offer up “a little lovin’ in between.”
(Commissioned by Common Chords Chorus)
Composer’s Notes
One of the things I’ve always loved about Langston Hughes’ poems is how he combines hard truth with deep love, gentle touch with a sharp-edged tongue, sacredness with the irreverent. To my ear, his short and to-the-point poem, “Advice,” simply cried out for edgy rhythms, complex chords, and a generous helping of the blues. I loved every single minute of writing this piece.
– Elizabeth Alexander
Text
Advice
Folks, I’m telling you,
birthing is hard
and dying is mean —
so get yourself
a little loving
in between.
– Langston Hughes
© 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes.
$3.75 per licensed PDF
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