About the Work

Awake, O Sun was commissioned and premiered in April of 2023 by the Ohio State Chorale with Robert Bode conducting. Scored for SATB voices, this short and festive setting of Bode's text depicts a lively invocation to the rising sun. Shimmering harmonies and energetic rhythms capture the sun's golden brightness, effectively opening or closing any choral concert with an essence of joy and renewal. 

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Duration - 3:30

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Text

Come, O Sun!
Awake and take the sky! 
I call you to come out, come out!

Break to me your dawning.

Burn me with your music!

Enflame me with your song!

Remember, O Eden
The brightness of the first day!

Invoke with me again
Fair Adam and golden Queen:

     Awake, O Sun!
     And take the sky!

     -Robert Bode

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