Gwyneth Walker

Three Days by the Sea

for SATB Chorus and Piano (2004)
for SATB Chorus and Orchestra (2008)
(TTBB Chorus and Piano [2008] version of mvt. 3 available)
(SSAA Chorus and Piano [2006] version of mvt. 2 available)
(A related work, Lessons from the Sea, for SSAA Chorus, Narrator, and Piano [2006] is also available.)

Return to Gwyneth Walker Music Catalog
Read Composer Helps Key Chorale Celebrate 20th Anniversary by Charlie Huisking, The Herald Tribune. (2005)
Read a review of Three Days by the Sea (2004) for SATB chorus and piano by Gayle Williams, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Download an a MP3 file of the third movement of this work performed by the Key Chorale, Joseph Caulkins, conductor.

Download an a MP3 file of the first movement of this work performed by the Key Chorale, Daniel Moe, conductor.
Download an a MP3 file of the second movement of this work.
Download an a MP3 file of the third movement of this work.

Download an a MP3 file of the TTBB and piano version of "Down to the Sea" performed by the River City Men's Chorus, David Glaze, conductor/piano.

Download an a MP3 file of the third movement of this work (SATB and orchestra version) performed by Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Cynthia Woods, conductor.

Download a PDF file of the poetry used in this work as text for printing in concert programs.

Download a PDF file of the score of first movement of the SATB and piano version of this composition. For perusal only -- not printable.
Download a PDF file of the score of second movement.
Download a PDF file of the score of third movement.

Download a PDF file of the score of the SATB and orchestra version of this composition. For perusal only -- not printable.
Download a PDF file of the score of the TTBB and piano version of "Down to the Sea." For perusal only -- not printable.
Download a PDF file of the score of the SSAA and piano version of "Gifts from the Sea." For perusal only -- not printable.


Premiere Artwork

The program notes below are for the SATB and piano version of this work. Program notes for the SATB and orchestra version may be viewed here.

#1. "The Bottom of the Sea" (text by Thomas Merton)
#2. "Gifts from the Sea" (text by Anne Morrow Lindbergh)
#3. "Down to the Sea" (text by Norah Mary Holland)

Commissioned by the Key Chorale, in celebration of their 20th season, 2005. Premiered by the Key Chorale, April 17, 2005, Sarasota, FL. Daniel Moe, Music Director.

Three texts, by three different authors, form the basis of this choral work. It is intended that a diversity of aspects of the sea be explored.

"The Bottom of the Sea" is a product of imagination - the ocean floor, the home of mermaids, "where waters most lock music in," a dimly-lit room where "lost orchestras play." [The orchestras play a waltz.] This song is characterized by descending lines into the depths of the piano and choral ranges.

"Gifts from the Sea" are found on the beach. One might find shells, perhaps the shell of a hermit crab. One might also find simplicity. Patience and faith come from the sea. "One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach."

Norah Mary Holland, a Canadian poet, cousin of W. B. Yeats, provides the lyrics for the closing song, "Down to the Sea." Here is the dark, strong, passionate sea, the "waters, wild and wide." This is sustained and powerful music, with the rolling waves often portrayed in the piano accompaniment.

A love and a fear of the sea are combined. "O strong and terrible Mother Sea, let me lie once more on your cool white breast." There is no home on the land. In the final voyage, "I will go down to the sea again."

[The texts and concept for these songs were formed during the composer's residency at the Hermitage Artists Retreat on Manasota Key, FL during the Winter of 2004, while walking on the beach!]

Notes by the composer