This Is a Good World

Moved by the horrific Orlando nightclub mass shooting in June of 2016, Ellingboe set this poem to music as an outpouring of grief, yet also of hope, that all is not lost and that, indeed, "this is a good world." The a cappella choral texture and harmonies are beautiful, and the vocal lines move seamlessly through multiple modulations. The Kenneth Patchen poem was written and published during some of the darkest days of the Second World War. It reminds us that war will not last and, though some do go mad, God will not forget us.