Andrea Clearfield – Composer
Official site of composer Andrea Clearfield. Biography, list of works with audio, score samples, reviews and program notes, photographs, upcoming performances.
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Awake at Dawn

Scored for: soprano solo, SATB, flute, harp, percussion, strings
Text: Manfred Fischbeck
Language: English
Duration: 15 min.
Premiere: May, 2000, The Music Group of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001
Commissioned by: The Music Group of Philadelphia, Seán Deibler, Artistic Director
Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:

See preview score pages: AWAKE AT DAWN CHORAL SCORE EXCERPT (PDF)

PROGRAM NOTES

Awake at Dawn (2000) soprano solo, SATB Chorus, flute, harp, percussion and strings was commissioned by The Music Group of Philadelphia, Sean Deibler, artistic director and was premiered in May, 2000 with The Music Group of Philadelphia and Orchestra 2001 at St. Luke and the Epiphany in Philadelpha. The work was inspired by Manfred Fischbeck’s beautiful poem and is an affirmation of life and a prayer for peace. The music is like a river that passes through different landscapes as it flows. The voices are conceived texturally and instrumentally creating a sea of sound from which various lines emerge and retreat. There are several places in the score which call for structured improvisation, where phrases can be repeated freely by both voices and instruments. The impressionistic setting reflects on the meditative and spacious qualities of the text. Awake at Dawn won the Delaware New Music Composers Competition, 2002.

LISTEN

http://www.andreaclearfield.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/AwakeDawn.mp3

REVIEW

“Andrea Clearfield composed a sweet exoticism drawn from a text of Manfred Fischbeck in Awake at Dawn…. I loved the work. Clearfield’s is the result of a commission from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Music Project.”

- Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, May 16, 2000

TEXT

PRAYER
by Manfred Fischbeck

I pray
that I be awake at dawn
stand in the doorway
of each breaking day
feel the wind
like a blade of grass
like a drop of water in the stream
walk on the beach of the morning without desire
watch my footsteps be printed and washed away
open my mouth not to talk but to sing
speak with my whole being
soul heart brain muscles bones and skin
that I be what I am
without question or doubt
like a plant or a bird or a stone
give what I have to give and when
like the fruit tree that renders its fruit when it has to
step out into the street with joy
let my movements flow with everyone’s movements
let my body touch another body
do not hold on
be free of concepts past, present, future
be moved to move
breath by breath
let my life be danced by grace
be now

© 2012 Andrea Clearfield

All images are excerpts from paintings by Andrea's mother, Louise Clearfield