Alone Together
Year
2020
Length
8'30"
Category
Vocal
Orchestration
Soprano, Piano
Premiere
June 13, 2020
Juventas New Music Ensemble
Kelley Hollis, soprano
Julia Carey, piano
Program Note
The stay home advisories of spring 2020 required a re-wiring of our hearts. To mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we covered our smiles, stayed at least six feet away from each other, and learned to wave and bow instead of hug. Actions that used to be considered expressions of aloofness, suddenly became heroic. Staying at home was the best thing non-essential workers could do to be good community members. Deep loneliness joined a long list of hardships plaguing our nation. And yet, as with so many dark times in the past, hope and resiliency revealed themselves as magic beans. Friends and families gathered on video conference platforms. Musicians live-streamed concerts from their living rooms. And entire cities staged 7pm pep-rallies, cheering through their windows for front-line workers. Suddenly, we found ourselves alone together. We saw the greater good in our mutual isolation; we banded without bands; and through our separation, worked toward a bright new dawn.
Text by Oliver Caplan
Life was beautiful before
This virus touched our shore.
Everything has changed, all that you had known.
Now, you stay at home, feeling all alone.
And yet, we’re all under the same moon.
A million souls drift alone together.
Dry tears encrust exhausted eyes.
The pain of loss without goodbyes.
Unending, heart-break symphony
A saline sea of eulogies,
Time can heal, but not return,
A million mourners weep alone together.
The sun will shine again my friend,
A brand new melody.
Somewhere beyond, beyond the bend
A dawn gleams vibrantly.
And we will join hand in hand,
Embracing tenderly.
*
In the shadows, your silent answer,
I know you’re there, I feel your solo prayer
Far from the empty streets, where we used to meet.
A million hearts beat alone together.
Through the masks we bare, and bedraggled hair,
Sound it soft, but clear:
The sun will shine again my friend,
A brand new melody.
Somewhere beyond, beyond the bend
A dawn gleams vibrantly.
And we will join hand in hand,
Embracing tenderly.
*
Stouthearted stars, our crucial spine
Bravery rampant, on front lines,
Doctors, nurses, bakers, farmers
Postal workers, first responders.
Watching over, neighbors dear,
A million heroes serve alone together.
The sun will shine again my friend,
A brand new melody.
Somewhere beyond, beyond the bend
A dawn gleams vibrantly.
And we will join hand in hand,
Embracing tenderly.
*
Someday, somehow, we will
Reach the far side of the hill,
When this ends, the melting frost,
We’ll ever remember, those we’ve lost. Those we’ve lost.
Grief-stricken, but finally, finally free.
A chorus of one, we rise above,
A million voices will sing together:
The sun shines again, my friend,
A brand new melody.
Beyond, beyond, beyond the bend
Dawn shines vibrantly
And we join hand in hand
Embracing tenderly.
Performance History
- June 13, 2020: Juventas New Music Ensemble, live broadcast on YouTube
- August 16, 2020: Juventas New Music Ensemble, live broadcast on YouTube
