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four sections (Table 3). prano 2 and alto parts harmonize homophonically. The
The second movement of Cantata for a More Hopeful melodic phrases are separated with rests, evoking a feel-
Tomorrow features the tune and the text of the spiritual ing of breathlessness reminiscent of the first movement.
“I Want Jesus to Walk With Me.” In the text, the speak- The movement features varied textures, including
er expresses a desire for Jesus’s presence throughout non-imitative polyphony, duets, and trios in Sections A
their life, which they describe as a “pilgrim journey.” and B, homophonic and contrapuntal textures in Sec-
The speaker asks for Jesus during moments of profound tion C, and quarter-note ostinatos that are contrasted
hardship, when their emotional burden becomes over- with sustained whole notes in Section D. Unlike the
whelming, with the words, “In my trials, Lord, walk first movement, in which frequent textural shifts evoke
with me.” In the context of the cantata, the inclusion of anxiety, the changes in this movement express a deep
this spiritual represents the profound struggles people yearning and desire for comfort and represent numer-
faced during 2020, particularly early in the pandemic ous prayers happening simultaneously, reflecting the
when death tolls and hospitalizations were rapidly ris- central theme of “The Prayer.”
ing and governmental lockdowns were occurring. Geter
explains: “This spiritual was on my heart at the time…. III. Breathe
I kept singing it...before I had even been asked to write “Breathe” is scored for SSAATTBB choir and cello,
the piece.” and the movement is set in modified rondo form with
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Section A begins with the soloist (Geter calls this four main sections (Table 4 on the next page).
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“the voice of hope” ) singing the melody with embel- It features the text of Aminata Sei’s poem of the
lishments. The choral parts have short, improvisatory same name. The poem comprises four stanzas and is set
phrases with fragmented or reordered text. By setting in free verse. Although some stanzas have slant rhymes
the music in this way, Geter emulates the church music (words that have similar—but not identical—sounds),
of his youth while also intensifying the feeling of yearn- Sei shares, “I can’t really say [I] took into account
ing. rhyme or any conventional use of literary devices. I just
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In Section C, the tenors and basses sing an ostina- wrote then what sounded good to me.” The final line
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to pattern, repeating the phrase, “Walk with me.” The in each stanza concludes with the word “breathe,” cre-
tenor and bass 1 parts interject “Please walk with me”; ating a sense of thematic unity and structural symmetry.
the bass 2 part remains consistent throughout. The me- The text begins with a feeling of simplicity for the
lodic line moves to the soprano 1 part, while the so- text “no complex expectations.” Here, the directive is

Table 3. Musical overview of “The Prayer”

A (Theme) B (Variation 1) C (Variation 2) D (Variation 3)

Measures 1-15 16-32 33-52 53-63

Stanza 1 2 1 1 fragmented

Meter 4/4 4/4, 2/4 3/4 4/4, 3/4

Tempo Q=65 Pesante, Q=56

CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2025 Volume 66 Number 4 73