On the Seashore

SSAATTBB choir
Part song

This work was commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Grant Gershon, Artistic Director, and Jenny Wong, Associate Artistic Director. The World Premiere was given at Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 31, 2026.

I was drawn to the text because it is about how children are endangered when you consider the consequences of current actions by adults. One of the joys of being a child is finding innocent joy when not knowing what is in store for you. Some musical figures in the song are very direct. The “infinite motionless sky overhead” uses an octave (the number 8) to represent infinity in the treble voices which don’t change pitches above "the restless water" of the tenors and basses. Most of the happy moments about children have dotted rhythms or major-triad sonorities. The tritone in the song’s 4-note motive from the beginning represents the duality of the harsh realities of the world but sound sweet through repetition because the children don’t know about all the negative things.

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.

They build their houses with sand, and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.

The sea surges up with laughter, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother while rocking her baby’s cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea-beach.

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.

‍ ‍– from “On the Seashore” by Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)