The Voces Cordis gave a stunning performance of “i thank you God for this most amazing day”, a poem by Edward Estlin Cummings.
Stellenbosch, South Africa (19 September 2022) – Poetry and song often go hand in hand, many stunning poems have become songs over the decades and E.E Cummings’ poem “i thank you God for this most amazing day” makes for a beautiful song. The Voces Cordis, a newly founded choir in Stellenbosch, did a seven-minute performance of the poem.
This performance was conducted by André van der Merwe, but the original composition was done by Dan Forrest. The choir was joined by musicians Theo Alkema (piano), Elzaan Steyn and Elmien Filippi (violins), Lida Pieterse (viola) and Estelle Kemp (cello).
Below is the poem.
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)
how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
Take a listen of the performance below.