You Shall Not Go Down

You Shall Not Go Down

TTBB Men’s Chorus
Duration: 4:00

 

 

You Shall Not Go Down was commissioned by the Empire City Men’s Chorus when it was invited to sing at the United Nations Headquarters in November of 2010 in celebration of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign (Unite to End Violence Against Women). Written by Dorothy Hindman, close friend and composer of recent works for the chorus, the pieces uses text by Walt Whitman taken from Song of Myself from Leaves of Grass (1855). The quasi-hymn like setting and homophonic writing allows both a clear iteration of the text and an opportunity for solo voices and sections to leap out of the texture and be heard. Each succeeding section builds in an upward rising vocal line and harmonic progression to convey the hope and encouragement of the poet to the distressed hearer.
~Nathan D. Fuhrman

Premiere: November, 2010
Empire City Men’s Chorus
Christopher Clowdus, conducting
United Nations
Secretary-General’s Campaign to End Violence Against Women
New York City, New York
Commissioner: Empire City Men’s Chorus