Celebration
Subject
reasons to celebrate year after year; a secular song of miracles
Year Composed
1992
Year Copyrighted
2011
Voicing
Unison
Musical Form
- Verse 1
- Verse 2
- Verse 3
Song Details
This haunting melody in the minor mode becomes increasingly more stirring as it modulates up a step before each new verse. While rich in Hanukkah imagery, Celebration actually transcends one specific historical reference to speak in a broader sense about the miracle that will happen “when children can live in a world without fear.”
Performance options
students could be encouraged to write about celebrations in their own homes, within their own cultures; clusters of these vignettes could be read by the students between each verse of the song, as the accompanist improvises upon the melody, before modulating into the next verse
Suggested uses
- winter holiday concert
- multicultural-themed concert