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Damien Geter’s Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow

This movement features the poem “Continuities” by sixteenth-note figure. The tenors are introduced high
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Walt Whitman. Whitman uses natural imagery, in- in their range in measure three, creating a light texture
cluding aging bodies, dimming light, the sun’s rise and with the three upper voices for the hopeful text. The
fall, and the return of spring. This imagery helps to basses enter in the A section.
convey the theme of renewal and transformation that As the tempo quickens to 100 bpm in Section A,
permeates this movement. Geter revisits the opening lines of the poem, reinforc-
In this poem, the speaker reflects on the enduring ing the main message that “nothing is ever really lost.”
nature of life, emphasizing that “nothing is ever real- The melody is in the solo voice and the choral parts
ly lost, or can be lost.” This assertion highlights the accompany it in lively, syncopated rhythms, often in
belief in continual existence, even when appearanc- eighth-note figures. The compositional approach is
es change or circumstances shift. Whitman describes similar to that in the other movements. Text fragments
time, space, and “the fields of Nature” as “ample,” are set in the lower choral voices, which later join the
meaning that each is vast and offers the possibility of soloist to amplify the main message of the text. In this
transformation and regeneration. The references to the movement, the cello is treated as one of the choral
aging body, “sluggish, aged, cold,” and the dimming voices, setting it largely in the same rhythm, which con-
“light in the eye” speak about the natural progression tributes to a feeling of unity. The harmonic language
of life, including Whitman’s belief that these life forms in this section predominantly features major chords,
will “duly flame again.” This cyclical view of life is which sound particularly hopeful in contrast to the dis-
further affirmed in the imagery of the rising sun and sonant and extended chords used throughout much of
the return of spring, bringing “grass and flowers and the rest of the work.
summer fruits and corn.” In the context of this work, In Section B, Geter musically highlights the stark
the poem suggests that although COVID-19 caused imagery in lines six through eight of the poem. He uses
significant loss, renewal will follow and transformation a melodic major seventh interval in the soprano line,
is inevitable. harmonized with dissonant chords to paint the harsh
The first two lines of the poem are presented in the reality of the aging body and the dimming of life’s
introduction, sung by the sopranos and altos in ho- light. Beneath this, the cello part stirs uneasily with tu-
mophony. Here, the cello line evokes a dream-like qual- multuous sixteenth notes, in stark contrast to its ear-
ity, oscillating between an A and B in a continuous lier dream-like oscillations. The composer recalls the
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Table 6. Musical overview of “Hope”

Intro A B A’ Coda

Measures 1-6 7-26 27-47 48-56 57-61

Lines of Text 1-2 1-5 6-8 1, 9-10, “Hope” 1

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

Tempo Tranquillo Q=75 Hopeful Q=100 Slightly slower Q=75 Q=70
Q=75, Q=100,
Q=75

78 CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2025 Volume 66 Number 4