This edition was prepared by Maggie Furtak — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
All the little fish
Staff Notation • Secular
Preview
0
0
Subscribed as
Want Sunday picks sent to another address too?
Free weekly email
Your choir should not be left out in what's trending
Sunday mass selections, psalms, and trending songs in your area — straight to your inbox.
All the little fish by Maggie Furtak — Lyrics
All alone on the green glass sea,
canvas full, pushed by a giant's thumb,
the great weight of air,
immensity of sky,
clear air.
All the little fish below me
slide past me, do not know me,
the welling deeps,
their springs outpoured,
hide rich and costly stores,
the last great mysteries,
slimy hoards,
are kept their at the ocean floors,
yet all the little fish below me,
slide past me, do not know me.
They know only the endless night,
they know only the endless cold,
as they shoulder the waves above,
and fear darker things below.
Read full lyrics
About All the little fish
All the little fish is a secular work for an octet of male voices. The composer sets a text that begins with a vivid sense of isolation and immensity, contrasting the vastness of the sea and sky with the small, unknowable world of the fish below. The music explores the fish's existence, perceived as a life of darkness, cold, and hidden dangers, far from the 'starlight' or 'moonlight' of the surface world. This piece uses the full range of the eight-part male choir to depict the contrasting sonic worlds and the emotional landscape of the text, from the overwhelming expanse to the deep, mysterious ocean floor.
