The Gift I'll Leave You

One of the unforgettable gifts our fellow students leave us is the lasting effect of their friendship on us - their loyalty, their willingness to stay with us as we struggle, the amazing way we discover how deeply we are loved and accepted. We move from the uncertainty and confusion of our early days to a lasting trust.

​"The Gift I'll Leave You" was commissioned by Kantorei, Denver, and Artistic Director Joel Rinsema, and was written during Kim's position as Composer-in-Residence in 2015/16.

DETAILS:

• Instrumentation: SATB & piano
• Duration: 5 minutes
• Author/lyricist: Euan Tait
  
• Language: English
• Year: 2015
• Licensing: Santa Barbara Music Publishing

THE TEXT

When you walked in, my friends

did you wonder what love is?

Did you say in your heart

I do not know, I do not know?

Did you call out to love,

not knowing his name,

not knowing her name, cry:

Who are you, who are you?

Let me tell you, friend

what you did not know:

love is slow discovery,

and we are here, we are here.

Our friendship will tell you

what love is, what love could be.

I did not know too, my friend,

but here I am, here I am.

Remember this gift

when you enter our broken world,

for you are love or injustice:

remember this gift, remember.

​by Euan Tait

Instrumentation: SATB, SSAA, or TTBB div. unaccompanied 

Duration:5minutes

Author/lyricist:Anon 20th century

Language: English

Year: 2011

Licensing: Norsk Musikkforlag

A work about hope in the darkest time of life. The text was written by a Jew hiding in Cologne, Germany, during World War 2 where the text was found scratched onto a wall. 

Commissioned by the St. Olaf Festival (Olavsfestdagene) in Trondheim, Norway, and premiered on July 30 by the Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir at an event with the bishop of Nidaros Tor Singsås and actress Liv Ullmann. The SATB version was premiered by the Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir on November 26, 2011, in Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim. A TTBB version was commissioned and premiered by Chor Leoni and conductor Erick Lichte in 2017. Arrangments for wind ensemble or brass band are also available.

I believe in the sun, even when it's not shining.

I believe in love, even when I feel it not.

I believe in God, even when He is silent.

Anon. 20th Century