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The Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Nicholas Mroczek

Tue, 02/12/2008 - 20:24 — Nicholas

  In May of 2007 the University of MN Duluth University Singers, of which I was a part, went on international tour in Turkey as part of the Turkish-American Alliance. While on that tour, the choir performed my piece “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” with myself conducting. It was really a treat working with an excellent group of singers who I know personally. (I had been a part of the choir for 5 years.) One of the highlights of the trip was being able to conduct an impromptu performance in ancient city of Ephesus.

   As for the piece, I was originally working on it for a HS level competition. Well, the piece slowly got away from me and turned into something a bit more difficult. I composed the A section first (actually the return of the A section). As the deadline was approaching, I frantically tried a multitude of approaches for the text. I ended up deciding that a simple ABA for would be the best for the text. I stole from the melody to create the introduction. In my head originally there was a soloist for the B section. As things turned out, I decided that a quartet would be more interesting. I worked out a small transition into the B section by using the texts own suggestions. “The night has a thousand eyes,” so why not repeat that line multiple times hinting at the number.
   Nicholas MroczekNicholas Mroczek
As the B section evolved, I wanted to play with the dynamics. Ultimately I decided I wanted two choruses—the soloist, and the full chorus. The soloists would sing quietly while the full chorus sang loudly. I found it very beautiful to have the soloists sing a chord underneath the full chorus that would then be revealed. It created a certain sadness and tenderness with the text. The chorus comes in forcefully, “yet a whole life dies when love is done.” They are loud and pleading almost angrily. The soloists at this point are tender, being left at a soft dynamic under the full choir. For a brief moment we hear them singing the word love and it’s almost as if there is hope there. The full chorus breaks back in abruptly, and again the soloists are left behind singing the word “done”. It’s almost heartbreaking to me. 
   From there, we have the return of the A section, which was the very first work I had done on the composition. For the Coda, I used the same material as in the B section. This time the soloists’ final chord sounds with much more closure, as if they understand and are able to move on. It feels to me more like a declaration of knowing love at this point; they have been through the trials of love and now know it as a whole. The piece is scored for SATB and solo quartet a capella.

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