This edition was prepared by J. G. Stalnaker — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
A Year of Grace
Staff Notation • Secular
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A Year of Grace by J. G. Stalnaker — Lyrics
From Second April, Edna St. Vincent Millay
"Song of a Second April"
April this year, not otherwise
Than April of a year ago,
Is full of whispers, full of sighs,
Of dazzling mud and dingy snow;
Hepaticas that pleased you so
Are here again, and butterflies.
There rings a hammering all day,
And shingles lie about the doors;
In orchards near and far away
The grey woodpecker taps and bores;
The men are merry at their chores,
And children earnest at their play.
The larger streams run still and deep,
Noisy and swift the small brooks run
Among the mullein stalks the sheep
Go up the hillside in the sun,
Pensively,—only you are gone,
You that alone I cared to keep.
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About A Year of Grace
J. G. Stalnaker sets words from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Song of a Second April" to evoke the familiar signs of spring's return. The text paints a poignant scene of nature's renewal, contrasting the persistent cycles of the year with a profound personal loss. While the world moves on with its "hammering all day" and the cheerful sounds of "children earnest at their play," the speaker is left with a deep sense of absence. This SATB setting in English offers a sensitive musical interpretation of the poem's blend of natural beauty and heartfelt elegy, making it a moving choice for concert programming.
