Premiered March 9, 2019, Howland Cultural Center, Beacon, NY.
Text by Emma Lazarus.
The New Colossus is a setting of the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, text by Emma Lazarus, and is part of We Hold These Truths, a growing cycle of songs celebrating freedom. The first three songs premiered in 2019 on a concert commemorating Women’s History Month. The first song, Freedom & Truth discusses the important relationship of these two ideals. The text is by Margaret Fuller, an outspoken pioneer in the early women’s movement. Both were written at a time when the very fact of being a woman writer was taboo, yet the strength of their words still rings true today. The third song is a Biblical phrase, co-opted early on in the struggle for equal rights for women, Give Her the Fruit of Her Hands. “Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates.” The cycle will soon include its namesake, a setting of a portion of the Declaration of Independence, We Hold These Truths.
Alternate version available for mezzo or soprano and electric guitar.
Score Excerpts
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