Bike Let Loose, The

• Composer: Edie Hill 
• Publisher: Self-Published - contact the composer/arranger
• Canadian Work: No
• Duration: 3:00

Program Notes:

American composer Edie Hill lives in Minnesota, where mile after mile of rolling cornfields create a playground for children in summer. The piece moves with a child’s reckless abandon from the still heat of the summer day to plunging through cornfields on a bike.

Conductor Notes:

SSAA and piano. A virtuosic and dazzling piece to learn and perform. Challenging piano part. The most challenging aspect for the choir is the many small but crucial changes of tempo to reflect the action of the poem. Well worth the work!

From the composer’s website: “A bright, athletic piece for women’s choir and piano. “The Bike Let Loose” uses rapid notes and soaring melodic lines to create a fantastical ride for both singer and listener.

References:

This lists any discs, concerts or collections where this piece is included.

Collections:

• Texts by Women
• Women Composers

Concerts:

• How the Blossoms Are Falling

Text:

july in the heartland

the bike let loose

on empty road

speeding through

tall corn at

the bottom of

immense sky

wrapping around

the world’s rim

the sun shimmering

and the air

like a bell

with perfect pitch

bathing us in

the heat that

swells the ears

in their green

jackets spilling

silk. Miles and

miles of corn

the towns –

populations eight

hundred nine hundred

two thousands souls –

marooned islands

in a green sea;

we pause at

the single stoplight

crossing the highway

plunge back into

corn.

(Serena Fusek)