A poem written by well-known Brethren writer and editor Kenneth I. Morse is the text for “Listen to the Sunrise,” a choral anthem just published by Alliance Music Publications, Inc. Sheet music is available through Brethren Press for $1.70 each, plus shipping and handling. The voicing is SATB with children’s choir a capella.
The anthem, by Canadian composer Eleanor Daley, was commissioned by the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and premiered in 2003. That concert is available on Cathedral Classics, a CD from the Master Chorale (www.masterchorale.com/cd-cc.htm).
The text comes from the title poem of Listen to the Sunrise, a book of poetry by Morse published by Brethren Press in 1991, and is combined with words from St. Francis of Assisi.
The poem made its way to the Master Chorale through Robert N. Durnbaugh, publisher of Brethren Press in the 1980s and later executive director of the Elgin Choral Union. He became acquainted with Dr. Richard Zielinski, who spent a year with the choral union before becoming music and artistic director of the Master Chorale in Tampa Bay. When the Master Chorale was preparing to commission the work, Zielinski asked Durnbaugh for suggestions of texts; “Listen to the Sunrise” was one of the suggestions.