all the stars in the sky (pdf if ordered for entire choir)

When I received a commission from the Joyful Noise chorus, I immediately wanted to write a quiet, lyric piece for them, based on a long, legato line. What could be better than a lullaby for them to sing to the daughter Allison Fromm was expecting? The idea for the words came from my own children’s favorite bedtime prayers, when they would bless all the people and things that meant most to them. And the tune came to me the very night that Katie Fromm was born — a gift from the Spirit. The images here are first from nature, then move to human love and the thought of a tiny child ‘in this room’. The singers should imagine seeing a baby right in front of them, and singing it to sleep. The mood should be calm and soothing.

The work may be performed in at least three ways. 1) In unison, with all voices on the melody and its echo. 2) In two parts, with melody and echo; or with the harmonizing thirds in the melody. 3) In three parts, as written. The accompaniment should sound like a harp. The first measure may be repeated until the room is quiet.

Alice Parker