The Quiet Light

Grade: 4

Commission info: Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble, Jack Stamp, conductor

Duration: 6:00

Published by Bandworks Publications

Program Note: 

Commissioned by Dr. Jack Stamp on the occasion of his retirement from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, The Quiet Light is a lyrical work that is intended to be reflective in mood, looking back on a profoundly impactful tenure as a conductor and educator. The work takes its inspiration, in title, metric feel and dramatic arch, from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, “Voluntary.” The woodwinds begin the piece with a calm, serene delivery of the main melodic theme, which is then passed to the brass, who deliver the tune in a richer, majestic presentation. The theme is then transformed into a somber, minor key setting, delivered by trumpet duet and out of that the ensemble crescendos into a powerful release, fading upward as if the sustained pitch in the upper woodwinds represents a shining star in the night sky. The low voices then bring the work to a peaceful close, harkening back to the quiet serene beginning.

Voluntary

Here in the quiet eve
My thankful eyes receive
The quiet light.
I see the trees stand fair
Against the faded air,
And star by star prepare
The perfect night.

And in my bosom, lo!
Content and quiet grow
Toward perfect peace.
And now when day is done,
Brief day of wind and sun,
The pure stars, one by one,
Their troop increase.

Keen pleasure and keen grief
Give place to great relief:
Farewell my tears!
Still sounds toward me float;
I hear the bird’s small note,
Sheep from the far sheepcote,
And lowing steers.

For lo! the war is done,
Lo, now the battle won,
The trumpets still.
The shepherd’s slender strain,
The country sounds again
Awake in wood and plain,
On haugh and hill.

Loud wars and loud loves cease.
I welcome my release;
And hail once more
Free foot and way world-wide.
And oft at eventide
Light love to talk beside
The hostel door.

—Robert Louis Stevenson