Dragon Fire

Description

Voicing: SATB choir and 4-hand piano

Duration: 4:00

“Dragon Fire,” written collaboratively by composers Hagen and Takach, is an impassioned and fiery statement about overcoming obstacles that life puts before us and turning those challenges into fuel that moves us forward. Two percussive piano parts underline the mostly homophonic vocal writing, which uses stepwise motion to find unique harmonies and dissonances. A cappella polyphony leads into a delicate middle section, which contrasts the opening and closing. A perfect closer to your choral program, and for larger festival and all state choirs, leave that piano lid wide open!

Text

I dive deep
and breathe life in,
inhaling each obstacle
blocking my path.
I choke out the dark sacs
of vision smothering smoke,
permeating my lungs,
filling me with
soul-sucking layers of soot u
ntil it pours out
of my mouth and nostrils,
blocking out all light,
blinding my path,
disrupting my growth.

Still, I feel
my way forward
and find a hidden
rare pocket,
that one last reserve
of energizing air,
and breathe in the miles.
Then exhale long and wide,
spraying my blaze of fury,
careful not to
char my courage
or trip on regret.
I trample over
old trepidations
now singed into hot ash
from my ire.
I’m a dragon.
I feed on my fire.

– Michelle Stradford, “My Dragon Fire,” from the book I’m Rising. Used witih permission.

Composer’s Notes

From the Poet: “I am tearing up. It is absolutely amazing! I am in awe with how artfully you two have composed these notes and melodies to bring my words to life. The energy is infectious.”

– Michelle Stratford