Rain Music

Joseph Seamon Cotter, Jr. (1895-1919)

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SATB (div.) choir, a cappella

Dedicated to the Spring 2011 University of Iowa University Chorus (Iowa City, IA)

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Available through manuscript

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"God, the Great Musician, calling life anew!"  Seamon's powerful text about God playing the earth like a drum with drumsticks of rain provides a great metaphor for the creative and life-giving power of music.  Structured to mimic the comings and goings of a summer rainstorms, Rain Music employs vocables, ostinato figures, and planing chords over shifting key areas to create swatches of sonic color, in an impressionistic attempt to show life erupting from the ground after a fresh rain.

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