A Child I Was (1989, rev. 1999)

An SATB madrigal, full or soli, with brief solos for a soprano. In 6/8, piano for rehearsal only, about 3:10. Suitable for community or high school groups, and was awarded 2nd Place in the 21st Annual Choral Composition Contest and Festival, Ithaca College School of Music, 2000. Commercially available here.

The poem - by the composer - is a reminiscence, in a twilight year, over those experiences and situations that made the speaker feel ever like a child in the struggle to make sense of it all. There is also an acceptance that this struggle was the point, that one is the sum of these experiences. The text proceeds chronologically, but there is a blurring of the speaker's perception of past and present, reflecting the lingering sense of childhood and the vividness of the memories.