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About the Composer

Isaac Lovdahl

Isaac Lovdahl is an award-winning composer, conductor, educator, and bass-baritone vocalist who serves as Director of Choral Activities at Bemidji State University and Artistic Director of the Bemidji Chorale. Under his direction, The Bemidji Choir (BSU’s premier choral ensemble) was invited to perform as a featured ensemble at the 2025 ACDA-MN state conference. Prior to...

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Graphite Publishing

Prairie Spring

Name: Prairie Spring
SKU: GP-L005
Availability: InStock

Isaac Lovdahl

An atmospheric portrayal of the American prairie.

Difficulty: 3

Duration: 3-5 min.

GP-L005

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for TBB choir and piano

Isaac Lovdahl’s “Prairie Song” uses consonance, open chords, and a coherent form to portray the open fields of the American West. Gentle melodic writing and some repetition results in a work that is easy to learn. The piano writing is masterful and artistic, providing an opportunity for satisfying collaboration. Impressionistic chords add to the atmosphere of the landscape.

Text

Evening and the flat land,
Rich and sombre and always silent;
The miles of fresh-plowed soil,
Heavy and black, full of strength and harshness;
The growing wheat, the growing weeds,
The toiling horses, the tired men;
The long empty roads,
Sullen fires of sunset, fading,
The eternal, unresponsive sky.
Against all this, Youth,
Flaming like the wild roses,
Singing like the larks over the plowed fields,
Flashing like a star out of the twilight;
Youth with its insupportable sweetness,
Its fierce necessity,
Its sharp desire,
Singing and singing,
Out of the lips of silence,
Out of the earthy dusk.