United In Song / Tous Unis En Chanson
SATB/opt. treble choral score with piano 4-hands
PEL2023-Choir and Piano
SSA choral score with piano 4-hands
PEL2023-Choir and Piano
Instrumental parts
PEL2023-IP
Full score and orchestral parts
PEL2023-FS/Orch
A WORK FOR SATB AND/OR SSA CHOIR WITH PIANO 4-HANDS AND OPTIONAL BASS AND ORGAN OR FULL ORCHESTRATION
PEL2023 'United In Song' by Paul Halley (SATB and/or SSA Choir with piano duet accompaniment, optional bass and organ, or full orchestration) was created for an international Millennium choral festival. Paul Halley’s words and music express the unity of people everywhere through music and song. In English with French translation. Annually performed at the Unisong Festival, Ottawa. Words and music by Paul Halley. (French translation by Gilles Plante.)
Commissioned by Arts Bureau for the Continents for the Millennium Unisong2000 Festival, Ottawa
Paul Halley writes about Track 9 (Sands of Time) from his 'Triptych' CD which was the keyboard precursor to the choral work 'United In Song':
'This is actually a piece for choir that I was commissioned to compose for a Millennium Festival in Ottawa through the good offices of my friend, Barbara Clark. In its choral version it is considerably more heraldic but the tune remains the same.'
Video
Texts
'United In Song' by Paul Halley
Music and words: Paul Halley
French Translation: Gilles Plante
Come, my friends,
Now the wind fills the sails,
We are bound for the wide open sea.
Here’s the rising sun,
It’s the dawn of a new day.
We will go where the rivers run free.
For the waters of life
Are the waters that we sail,
And our boat is the bond of our love.
And the wind is our hope
That can never ever fail,
And our guide is the light that shines above.
Through the years
We have wandered far and wide;
We have reached for the stars and the sun.
Now this chance appears;
We can feel the rising tide;
Now the journey for home has begun.
We are travelers in time;
Fellow pilgrims on our way,
As we flow, like the streams to the sea.
And we meet on that shore
That we’ve never known before,
And we feel a familiar, healing peace.
All our voices sound with one refrain.
Hear them echo round time and time again.
This is our family; this is our song.
Brothers and sisters all, we are one.
Come, my friends,
Here’s a gift in our hands.
We are holding the hope and the dream.
Many voices blend,
Many tongues from distant lands
Come together and join in the theme.
Now’s the time!
Here’s the place!
Full of beauty, full of grace,
Where we share in the same destiny.
And, united in song,
In this world, where all belong,
We are one in a perfect harmony.
Come, my friends,
We are bound for the journey home.
We are one!
Words and music by Paul Halley
Tous Unis En Chanson (French translation)
Mes amis, Le vent gonfle nos voil’ !
Embarquons-nous sans peur vers le larg’!
Soleil lève-toi!
L’aube annonce un noveau jour!
Voguons sur les flots en liberté
Comme si nous voguions
Sur le fleuve de la vie!
Ce bateau nous conduit à l’amour.
Le vent est notre espoir
Qui n’échouera jamais.
Le soleil luit pour nous guider du ciel.
Trop longtemps,
Nouse avons couru le mond’
Rêvant de mille étoil’ impossibl’.
Voici notre chanc’
Voici la marée qui mont’!
Empruntons le chemin du retour.
Voyageurs dans le temps,
Heureux, amis pèlerins,
Nous voilà emportés par la mer!
Et réunis enfin Sur des bords inconnus,
Ah fêtons cette douce paix du cœur!
En chœur, ne chantons qu’un seul refrain.
Laissez-vous bercer au son des échos.
C’est là notre famille, notre chanson!
Tous unis, frêr’ et sœurs, pour toujours!
Mes amis, quel présent merveilleux
Que d’avoir l’espéranc’ et le rêv’!
Que nos voix se mêl’.
Plusieurs langues du mond’
Enrent dans la rond’ musical’.
Il est temps! Allons-y!
Par la beauté, par la grâc’,
Partageons la même destinée!
Que nos chants nous uniss’
Dans ce monde qui est nôtr’!
Chantons tous en si parfaite harmonie.
Mes amis!
Empruntons la voie du retour!
Soyons unis!
French translation by Gilles Plante
