San Martino: Free SATB Choral by Canadian Composer

A few months ago, I published San Martino (for SATB divisi a cappella) with words from Giosuè Carducci’s poem. Now it's free!

When I began writing San Martino, I was at home, playing around on my piano. I had gotten the poem from my Nonna, after I asked if she and my Nonno had any Italian poetry they liked. I had just finished working on a piece that was very densely packed with words, and was looking to create something completely opposite. I took just the fourth stanza, and very carefully spaced out the words as much as I could, within reason. I found I spent a lot of time deciding where each phrase, or word, would be placed, how long it would span, how it would be sang, and how many times it would be repeated, within and across sections.

I knew I had to turn San Martino into a choral work as soon as I read the closing stanza (the one featured in my composition). So simply, so perfectly, Carducci had captured the feeling of autumn in so few words. I remember sitting in a cafe reading it over and over again, in awe, before I would go home that night to my piano to start the actual creation of the piece.

When I began compiling the chord progressions for the piece, my home base was the cascade of C6, B6, G5, C5 (later transposed, of course). Each progression I developed had some connection to that original chord in some way. While I never actually added that chord to the piece, you can hear something similar to it at the beginning, and at the very end at the final modulation. The crunches and almost-resolves and push-and-pulls of each section were all inspired by the fall season, from literal crunches, to more subjective personal associations I had internalized over my life. I think that’s partially why I feel so connected to this piece, because I let my emotions and associations I had developed guide my notation choices.

Once I had completed it, I was lucky enough to have it sung by a choir at my high school that I was apart of. As we learned it together, I made slight tweaks to the voicing, pace, text placement, etc. as I saw what did and did not work throughout the piece. While the version that was performed is no longer the most recent version, it was still truly a wonderful experience and a highlight of my high school life.

Since then, I've made the final tweaks and made the decision to give it away for free! As a new composer, it's hard to gain traction, period. Especially when you try to do it independently. So in hopes of getting my name and music out there, I've made it free. If you are wondering how to actually acquire the sheet music, wonder no further! San Martino is available for digital download right here on my site, and is also available to be shipped to you at no cost.