Between the Lines: Hope Is the Thing with Feathers by Penny Rodriguez

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers

This charming setting of the famous Emily Dickinson poem reminds us that hope "never stops at all." A memorable melody is first sung in unison before layering into a buoyant two-part canon. From the brisk opening piano motive to the exuberant full-voiced ending, it's a stellar selection overflowing with joy. Careful and conservative part writing ensures success for the developing choir.

Penny Rodriguez

Penny is a pianist, composer, and recording artist who began playing piano at the age of 6 in the jungles of Peru, where her parents served as missionaries. She earned a degree in piano performance from Moody/American Conservatory of Music. She has had many piano books and choral pieces published but more recently has turned her focus to composing art songs for solo voice and piano, using beautiful old poetry for the lyrics. Penny has recorded 11 albums. She lives in the Indianapolis area with her husband, Dave, where their biggest source of joy is spending time with their grandchildren.

Learn more about Penny and see a full list of her Alfred Music publications here .

What inspired you to write this piece?

This piece originally came about because I was writing a collection of art songs. I was finding beautiful old poems and setting them to music for solo voice and piano. When I found this poem by Emily Dickinson, the joyful melody of this tune immediately popped into my head. I released an album of those art songs ( Velvet Shoes ) and one day discovered that Hope Is the Thing had gotten almost 30,000 streams on Spotify! That made me wonder if it might have a wider audience than simply as a solo song, so I arranged it for the 2- and 3-part settings that are being released this year. I have to wonder if the pandemic played a role in the song’s popularity, as so many of us were grasping for hope during that time.

How will this piece encourage musical growth?

The joyful lyrics are somewhat unusual, as they present a bird as a metaphor for the concept of hope. The poet gives us the picture that with hope perching in our souls, we can be strong and resilient through the most difficult of circumstances. Singers can grow in their musicality by striving to express this hope through their performance.

Additionally, the teacher can present the concept of singing in a round.

What performance suggestions do you have?

An interesting backdrop behind the singers might be to have different birds projected on a screen. Or, in conjunction with art and or science classes, the kids could draw their own renditions and have those projected.

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