A celebration of life, unity, and music, this is a setting of a poem by the 19th-century British author John Addington Symonds (1840-1893). The text speaks of the future with hope: "A loftier race then e'er the world has known shall rise." The healing and transforming power of music is essential to this hope. "When every life shall be a song, then all the earth is a paradise." Throughout, the message is triumphant: "These things shall be! "The musical expression alternates between added-tone chords (representing building for the future) and melodic phrases for the more tender passages of the poem: "we will be gentle, brave, and strong "). Commissioned and premiered by the Boston Gay Men's Chorus. Duration: 3:30