• 0000/2421/timp.2perc
  • SATB chorus
  • 5 min

Programme Note

Composer Note:
In 1962 I received my first commission – by the Tanglewood Music Festival for a work for chorus, brass ensemble and percussion. I chose the passionate but disillusioned text What I Expected Was… by Stephen Spender. I set the work with his permission, but then saw that he had revised the final words from “shattering crystal” to “faceted crystal.” The former made for a much better setting, and he gave me permission to use it in my work.
— John Corigliano