Marten Jansson: Tonight I Dance Alone (SATB)

“Tonight I Dance Alone” for double choir a cappella consists of three poignant episodes from the life of an old man. We encounter him before his wedding, before celebrating his wedding anniversary and now as an elderly widower who says to his grandson:

“Soon we will dance in the God-light,
My love and I.
Soon will the moon be ours again,
And the endless shining stars
In the halls of heaven.
Soon, my love, very soon;
But tonight, one last time,
Tonight I dance alone.”

The libretto and the descriptive music are deeply moving and constitute an ideal partnership. This is Mårten Jansson’s first collaboration with the well-known librettist Charles Anthony Silvestri. The piece provides a well-worth challenge for ambitious choirs.

It was world-premiered by the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus under the baton of Philip Barnes on 1 October 2017 in Saint Louis, MO (USA)