That I Loved: SATB Choral Octavo

Burrows brings the full emotional weight of Teasdale's meditation on mortality to the choral score without ever leaning on sentimentality. The text painting feels inevitable rather than clever, with harmonic choices and voicing decisions that illuminate the poem's quiet strength. This is the kind of piece that sticks with singers long after rehearsals end.

The piece unfolds with the quiet contemplation of someone at life's threshold, neither maudlin nor triumphant. Burrows's setting allows Teasdale's language to resonate in your singers' voices, creating moments of beauty that feel both earned and genuine.

This octavo suits accomplished high school choirs, college choral ensembles, and community choirs ready to engage with a text-centered, introspective piece. Singers who thrive when meaning and music work together will find deep satisfaction in this work.

• Allow the text to shape your phrasing rather than imposing a predetermined arc. Let the musical gestures that support key words emerge naturally from ensemble listening.
• Pay close attention to the harmonic transitions marked in the score; they often underscore emotional shifts in the text and need clear voice-part balance to register with the audience.
• Give singers time to absorb the final moments. The ending requires a stillness that only comes when the ensemble fully inhabits the weight of the words.

Position this as a centerpiece for a concert exploring mortality, resilience, or poetry in music. It pairs thoughtfully with other secular choral works that value literary depth and can anchor a program focused on introspective repertoire.

• Text painting and expressive phrasing from poetic analysis
• Harmonic listening and voice-part independence within sensitive chord progressions
• Sustained legit tone production in emotionally demanding passages
• Ensemble balance and blend in SATB writing with exposed voice lines