Now Is The Time (2014)
(Men’s Choir – TTBB)
Approximate duration = 8 minutes
Set to the poem by Hafez
MIDI realization – this piece has yet to be performed.
VIDEO SCORE
This video score was made so you can read along the lyrics to the music. Since MIDI doesn’t have the ability to record the words, just a “la” sound, while listening to the music alone, it is impossible to see how the poem lines up with the music. Trained musicians will be able to read along with the score. But for those who aren’t trained musicians, or used to reading scores, this video score will help you better appreciate the composition.
Now Is The Time
by Hafez
Now is the time
Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God?
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you can finally live
with veracity and love.
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
That this is the time
For you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
PROGRAM NOTES
Hafez (sometimes spelled Hafiz) was a Persian mystic poet from the 14th century and lived most of his life in Iran. His work is considered the pinnacle of Persian literature. Many of his poems are set to traditional Persian music.