For TTBB Voices and Piano
From Like Dust I Rise (A Choral Song Cycle)
Text by Maya Angelou, music by Mark Hayes
A folk-like setting of Maya Angelou's empowering poem, which compares a bird's longing to be liberated with that of all people. Hayes chooses a minor key with plenty of harmonic tension and a walking tempo that suggests the footsteps of those who have come before. The final Picardy third is the ultimate symbol of freedom.