‘The Letter’

The Letter

A small spark, attached to the wick of a candle is considered to indicate the arrival of a letter to the one before whom it burns.

FARE-THEE-WELL, love, now thou art going
Over the wild and trackless sea;
Smooth be its waves, and fair the wind blowing–
Tho 'tis to bear thee far from me.
But when on the waste of Ocean,
Some happy home-bound bark you see,
Swear by the truth of thy heart's devotion,
To send a letter back to me.

Think of the shore thou'st left behind thee,
Even when reaching a brighter strand;
Let not the golden glories blind thee
Of that gorgeous Indian land;
Send me not its diamond treasures,
Nor pearls from the depth of its sunny sea,
But tell me of all thy woes and pleasures,
In a long letter back to me.

And while dwelling in lands of pleasure,
Think, as you bask in their bright sunshine,
That while the ling’ring time I measure,
Sad and wintry hours are mine;
Lonely by my taper weeping
And watching, the spark of promise to see–
All for that bright spark, my night-watch keeping,
For oh! 'tis a letter, love, from thee!
To say that soon thy sail will be flowing
Homeward to bear thee over the sea:
Calm be the waves and swift the wind blowing,
For oh! thou art coming back to me!

1. Score [flipbook version]
2. Score [download as zip file]

Gondwana Choirs comprises the most accomplished choral groups of young people in Australia. Led by Artistic Director & Founder, Lyn Williams AM, the organisation is synonymous with performance excellence and has a reputation for the highest standards of young people’s choral music in Australia and internationally.

In 2019, the Sydney Children’s Choir celebrated its 30th anniversary with the spectacular Gondwana World Choral Festival, which brought the world’s finest children’s choirs to Sydney for a week of 21 performances. Broadcast on ABC Classic, the festival included the world premieres of Only I by Nico Muhly and I am Martuwarra by Paul Stanhope. In 2020, SCC has been invited to perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.

Gondwana’s national choirs represent Australia on the world stage. In 2019, Gondwana Voices travelled to Berlin to perform Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Philharmonie under the baton of Vladmimir Jurowksi. In 2020, Gondwana was honoured to be the only Australian choir invited to perform at the World Symposium on Choral Music hosted by the International Federation for Choral Music.

Website: https://www.gondwana.org.au/portfolio/gondwana-choirs