To an Athlete

for choir SATB and piano

Duration 2' 45"

Words by A E Housman

check this piece out on YouTube:
youtu.be/V8FILU-bAAI
[To An Athlete 0'00"]
[Taki no oto wa 3'04"]
[Tis not too late to seek a better world 4'56"]

Availability

Text

stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 5 only from "To An Athlete Dying Young" by Alfred Edward Housman (1859-1936)

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

Categories choral - mixed voices accompanied