This edition was prepared by James Crawford — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Anthem For Doomed Youth. Choral Edition.
Staff Notation • Secular, Art songs
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Anthem For Doomed Youth. Choral Edition. by James Crawford — Lyrics
ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTHWilfred Owen
What passingbells for these who die as cattle?Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
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About Anthem For Doomed Youth. Choral Edition.
Wilfred Owen's powerful 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is set for SSA voices in this profound choral work. The text grapples with the brutal realities of war, questioning the traditional solemnities of death – the passing-bells and prayers – and finding only the 'monstrous anger of the guns' and the 'shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells' as fitting tributes. Instead of conventional mourning, the composer focuses on the inner lights of the young soldiers' eyes and the tenderness of their minds, as their lives are extinguished with the slow drawing-down of blinds. This is a moving secular art song that captures the anguish and futility of conflict.
