Collections

Score Collections

Of my Lungs

“Of my lungs” is a collection of 10 pieces for voice by Drew Swatosh, Carolyn Quick, and Lisa Neher. The title “Of my Lungs” was inspired by an excerpt from Drew’s Opera “If Only I Could Give You the Sun.” This opera, penned by librettist Brian Dang, is a trans/non-binary retelling of the myth of Icarus. In the final aria “I want Everything” (which will be featured in our score release), Icarus flies up and away, claiming life and agency for their body and gender beyond expectation and beyond the myth, singing:

“Is mine.
Everything.
The sun
the heat on my skin
the light of its rays
is mine.
The moon
that dances in step
luminous and glowing
and its power that
manifests in waves
is mine.
The air
that flows in and out
of my lungs
And out of my nose
and through every
living creature and tree
on Earth
is mine.”

-Brian Dang (2021)

We loved this imagery of lungs and flowing air, not only because each of our pieces features the human voice – which itself is intrinsically linked with breath – but because many of these works were written during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic: a time when things seemed to stand still and everyone’s awareness became centered upon our breath, upon what was being passed between our lungs. “Of my Lungs” highlights this in turn. And as we were choosing works for this score release, many of our pieces also featured texts that centered around breath.

To the heart that knows fire

“To the heart that knows fire” is a collection of 12 choral works by Drew Swatosh, Carolyn Quick and Lisa Neher which explore finding beauty and hope amid darkness. The collection’s title is drawn from Emily Pauline Johnson’s poem Fire-Flowers, set by Carolyn in her piece To the heart that knows fire:

And only where the forest fires have sped,
Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands,
A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head,
And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed,
It hides the scars with almost human hands.

And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain,
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief.
And life revives, and blossoms once again.

-Emily Pauline Johnson (1903)

This poem captures the potential for life, growth, and hope that can emerge out of difficult experiences. The works in this collection recognize that our lives are often filled with struggles: physical, societal, and spiritual. At the same time, the music and texts affirm that we each have the resilience to move through these challenges, to find comfort, connections, and to become something new on the other side. As Carolyn writes in her program note: “Though we get to know these desolating fires intimately – to the point that we are nearly engulfed in flames – we persist. Out of scorched earth springs new growth and with it hope and renewal.”

of my lungs

By Candelight

$10.00

Art Song | Voice & Piano | 8'

Score Collections

Of my Lungs​

To the heart that knows fire

of my lungs

By Candelight

If starlight be

Snapshots

A Poem of Gratitude

Dead Fires Anthology

To Breathe

I Heard the Waves

O Captain! My Captain!

Pieces

I Want Everything from If Only I Could Give You the Sun

to the heart that knows fire

Ave Maria (SSA)

Shadow Song (SATB)

The Open Road (SATB)

Finding the Light (SSAA/SATB/SSAB)

Catch at Hope (SSAATTBB)

Make Me an Instrument (SSA)

To the heart that knows fire (SSAATTBB)

While I was Fearing It (SSAA/SSAATTBB)

I Shall Not Care from Secular Requiem (SATB with Divisi)

In Flanders Fields (SATB & Piano)

Sound the Flute! Now it's Mute! (SATB with divisi)

In the Bleak Midwinter (SSAA)

Meet the Composers

Carolyn Quick

(she/her)

Drew Swatosh

(they/them)

Lisa Neher

(she/her)

Of my Lungs