Melissa Dunphy

Commissioned by the University of Missouri University Singers (R. Paul Crabb, conductor) with funding from the Mizzou New Music Initiative through the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

Sailing Away
By Isabel Grimes Richey, A Harp of the West (1895)

Thy sails are set on the unseen sea,
Sailing away, sailing,
The wave are bearing thee far from me,
Love stands wailing:
Pale mists slowly rise between,
Mists of parting tears, I ween,
Wrapping thee in shadow sheen,
Thy face veiling.

What is this that is borne to me,
Sailing away, sailing?
“Thou’lt meet again, on the unseen sea;
Cease thy wailing:
Out where the waves of Time, shall be
Met by the waves of Eternity,
Light shall pierce the mists for thee
All unveiling.”

Artwork by Melissa Dunphy.

Performances

• 20 May, 2024: Quintessence at St. John's United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, NM
• 19 May, 2024: Quintessence at St. John's United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, NM
• 20 Apr, 2024: Pro Coro Alexandria at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, VA
• 25 Jun, 2023: Renaissance Voices at Fifth Maine Museum, Peaks Island, ME
• 09 Jun, 2023: In Medio Choir at Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, OR
• 13 May, 2023: Renaissance Voices at St. Luke’s Cathedral, Portland, ME
• 01 May, 2021: University of Missouri University Singers at University of Missouri, Sinquefield Music Center, Columbia, MO