Breaths

As recorded by Sweet Honey in the Rock, this a cappella work is one of Barnwell's earliest compositions and contains many signatures of her compositional style, particularly the layering of ostinati throughout. Setting a text adapted from Birago Diop's poetry, the work is about our ancestors being ever present even after death. Newly updated by a scholarly committee dedicated to Dr. Barnwell's works, this work is available in two separate voicings rather than the original SATB or SSA voicing. The SSATB voicing is in the original key of D major, while the SSAA voicing has been transposed up a fourth to G major and places alto 2 in the treble clef rather than in the bass clef of the original.