NW3019
Chinese crane song
SATB, violin & flute
performance time approx 3m 45s
poem by Edwina Towson
set to music by Sheena Phillips
for SATB chorus, violin and flute
performance time approx 3m 45s
See a perusal copy (PDF format) of the
music.
This copy is not licensed for rehearsal, performance or recording.
Hear a
MIDI rendering of
Chinese crane song
This is a wonderfully evocative poem, conjuring for me aerial views of China's dramatic landscape and the life that goes on there. The lines of the first chorus are repeated in two different orders after each of the verses, combining repetition with variation - and this is mirrored in the music, which is never quite the same from one verse to the next.
A version of this song for SSA children's chorus with piano and flute is also published by Canasg.
Also available for SSA children's chorus with piano and flute - see under 'Young voices' below.
Words
Chinese crane song White feather, grey feather, cranes fly far.
High water, low water, where you ever are
There are wings in the wind, there are wings in the sky.
White feather, grey feather, fly, crane, fly.
Over the red pagoda,
Above the green fields of rice,
Along the banks of the blue Su Xian
To the mountain tops of ice:
There are wings in the wind, there are wings in the sky.
White feather, grey feather, fly, crane, fly.
Wide bird glides over empty hill-sides,
Across the sleeping yellow town.
Below is the pine and the hermit's shrine
If the eye of the crane look down:
High water, low water, where you ever are
White feather, grey feather, cranes fly far.
Plum flower and tall bamboo,
Flat-bottomed boats with a fisherman crew,
Pottery kilns, watch-tower's height
Under the spread of the China bird's flight:
There are wings in the wind, there are wings in the sky.
White feather, grey feather, fly, crane, fly.
White feather, grey feather, cranes fly far.
High water, low water, where you ever are
There are wings in the wind, there are wings in the sky.
White feather, grey feather, fly, crane, fly.
Edwina Towson
Purchase – 3019: Chinese crane song
The price depends on the number of singers in your group.
This is a single payment for a licence to make as many copies as you
need for your group to rehearse and perform the song. You can also re-print
- for instance, to replace copies that get lost or worn out.
Copies must not be given, lent, hired or sold to any other group.
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