November 2021: "It's a Long Way" by Nell Shaw Cohen

Submitted by Christopher Jackson
ACDA-PA College & University R&R Chair

For our #SingNewMusic column I have selected the approachable, yet deeply moving, It’s a Long Way by composer Nell Shaw Cohen.  

Here is a link to her website, and specifically to this piece:  https://www.nellshawcohen.com/its-a-long-way/

The link I provided contains multiple recordings of the piece, a perusal score, and instructions for how to purchase the work.  The work is for SATB choir.


This piece really stands out to me for many reasons.  The poem, by Harlem Renaissance poet, William Stanley Braithwaite, delivers a sincere and universal message (full text below).  The piece can be performed by a wide range of choirs, from High School ensembles to Community/Church choirs or at the Collegiate level. I find that the piece is a great tool for teaching.  It requires ensemble members to pay close attention to musical details, vocal color and technique, and how their part weaves into the ensemble. The piece was composed during the middle of the pandemic and was written specifically to be accessible and rewarding for choirs of all abilities.  The vocal lines are often in stepwise motion and the total range of each voice part is only slightly larger than one octave.  There are still occasional tuning challenges (inverted or slightly more complex chords, passing dissonances) but these difficulties are worth the effort.  The melodic and harmonic language is special, balancing a dream-like melancholy with more confident moments that reassure us things will work out in the end.  


“It’s a Long Way”
by William Stanley Braithwaite (1878-1962)

It’s a long way the sea-winds blow
    Over the sea-plains blue,--
But longer far has my heart to go
    Before its dreams come true.

It’s work we must, and love we must,
    And do the best we may,
And take the hope of dreams in trust
    To keep us day by day.

It’s a long way the sea-winds blow--
    But somewhere lies a shore--
Thus down the tide of Time shall flow
    My dreams forevermore.