Walker There Will Come Soft Rains SATB

Commissioned by St Martin’s Voices to mark Remembrance Day in 2024, There will come soft rains showcases the range of the choir’s musical colour-palette through the repetition of the opening motif in several guises throughout the piece, from crystalline fragility to radiating strength. The text is profound; Sara Teasdale’s poem (subtitled ‘War time’) juxtaposes the tranquil cycle of nature and personified awakening of Spring against the suffering of mankind, with a simultaneous sense of comfort and unnerving indifference. Musically, this is evoked through a central moment of descent into harsh dissonance, from which the opening melody emerges, seemingly unchanged. Though the piece closes with a light, hopeful sound, there is an unsettling undertone. There will come soft rains would suit experienced choral groups as a concert piece, particularly for occasions of contemplation, remembrance, war and peace, and perceptions of the natural world.