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of the traditional spiritual in the verses by setting two included the spontaneous-sounding figures: “This is a
lines of text over four measures, while incorporating a song that we sang at church as a kid.… I remember all
respectful treatment of the melody with only one em- the inflections that people used to throw in there and
bellishment on the word, “Spirit” (“knowledge” in the everything, [and] some of them are in the piece.” 15
repeat). The choir sings on “Oo” and then finishes with The movement ends peacefully. The soloist sings
the latter portion of text for each line, often the final the first half of the first phrase of “There is a Balm in
word, amplifying the main part of the message. In the Gilead,” sustaining the final note for three measures.
final lines of the first two verses, all vocal parts have The phrase fragments further in the soprano and alto
the full text in a predominantly homophonic texture, chamber voices, repeating the text and motive, “There
suggesting unity. is a balm.” The sustained notes and gentle repetition
“By and By” is marked “Joyously, with light swing.” suggest that the balm remains within reach but is not
Geter sets the tone for this section with syncopated yet fully realized. This conclusion reinforces the can-
eighth-note figures in the cello. He assigns the melody tata’s broader themes of resilience and the journey to-
to the soprano and bass choral voices and indicates that ward hope.
the soloist should improvise while the altos and tenors
sing accompaniment material, often repeating frag- V. Hope
ments of the text (Figure 3). After four movements of tension and reflection,
At the first ending, the chamber singers interject, Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow comes to its final
“And by and by, oh,” Geter’s addition to the text. In moments in the aptly titled movement, “Hope.” Like
the repeat of this section, the chamber singers have movements two and four, “Hope” is scored for SATB
high, forte interjections, evoking excitement. The cham- choir with divisi, soloist, and cello. It has an ABA’ form
ber singers are often offset from the choral parts in an with an introduction and coda (Table 6 on the next
improvisatory style. Geter notes that he consciously page).

CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2025 Volume 66 Number 4 77