Light of Late November arranges a choral setting of Barbara Crooker’s poem Praise Song, which describes in vivid detail the simple beauty of an autumn evening. This piece for brass quintet was premiered by Brass Over Bridges.

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Purchase this piece for performance through Murphy Music Press.

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text (choral version)

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Praise the light of late November, 
the thin sunlight that goes deep in the bones.
Praise the crows chattering in the oak trees;
though they are clothed in night, they do not 
despair. Praise what little there’s left: 
the small boats of milkweed pods, husks, hulls, 
shells, the architecture of trees. Praise the meadow
of dried weeds: yarrow, goldenrod, chicory,
the remains of summer. Praise the blue sky
that hasn’t cracked yet. Praise the sun slipping down
behind the beechnuts, praise the quilt of leaves
that covers the grass: Scarlet Oak, Sweet Gum,
Sugar Maple. Though darkness gathers, praise our crazy
fallen world; it’s all we have, and it’s never enough.

 

—Barbara Crooker

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