Monday Music: The Road Home

A beautiful arrangement by the late Stephen Paulus. The tune, "Prospect"from Southern Harmony, 1835, was adapted by Paulus to accompany the lyrics written by Michael Dennis Brown. See below for a note from Stephen Paulus about this piece.

A note from composer Stephen Paulus on The Road Home

In the Spring of 2001 I received a commission from the Dale Warland Singers to write a short "folk" type choral arrangement.  I had discovered a tune in a folk song book called "The Lone Wild Bird."  I fell in love with it, made a short recording and asked my good friend and colleague, Michael Dennis Browne to write new words for this tune. The tune is taken from The Southern Harmony Songbook" of 1835.  It is pentatonic and that is part of its attraction.  Pentatonic scales have been extant for centuries and are prevalent in almost all musical cultures throughout the world.  They are universal.  Michael crafted three verses and gave it the title "The Road Home."  He writes so eloquently about "returning" and "coming home" after being lost or wandering.  Again, this is another universal theme and it has resonated well with choirs around the world as this simple little a cappella choral piece has become another "best seller" in our Paulus Publications catalogue and now threatens to catch up with "Pilgrims' Hymn."  It is just more evidence that often the most powerful and beautiful message is often a simple one.

                                                                                                          Stephen Paulus

                                                                                                          May 2013 

[From http://stephenpaulus.com/blogs/news/17806884-work-story-the-road-home]

-