Lead Me Home
for SSA choir and piano
Releasing with Santa Barbara Music Publishing Fall 2024!
Lead Me Home is a journey that explores the concept of home. The text is inspired by the wonderful singers of the Cedar Cliff Chorale, who brainstormed what a home means to them; both its beautiful and its more difficult characteristics. These images are represented in the floors, light switch, and walls of the first verse, as the speaker reflects on their old home, wonders what is next for them in their journey, and what new homes may welcome them in.
Just by spending a short class period with them via video conference, it was absolutely clear to me that students in Cedar Cliff Chorale have a home in their choir. Their voices are what leads the speaker to their new arrival in the third chorus. Their school’s alma mater has a beautiful line that inspired the imagery of this text: “Guiding us to truth and light; As a beacon o’er dark water...”
The beacon motive first appears in measure 20 of the piano part. It shines its light throughout the rest of that verse and chorus, and eventually turns into the starting pitches of the accompaniment of the bridge. The highest sounding pitches in the right hand of the piano quote the melody of the first line of the Cedar Cliff High School Alma Mater. Their choir becomes the new home.
As you perform this piece, may your singers and audience feel the same sense of camaraderie, friendship, and unity that Mr. Topping has cultivated in the Cedar Cliff Chorale. Let their beacon of choral light inspire you to shine your brightest.
Just by spending a short class period with them via video conference, it was absolutely clear to me that students in Cedar Cliff Chorale have a home in their choir. Their voices are what leads the speaker to their new arrival in the third chorus. Their school’s alma mater has a beautiful line that inspired the imagery of this text: “Guiding us to truth and light; As a beacon o’er dark water...”
The beacon motive first appears in measure 20 of the piano part. It shines its light throughout the rest of that verse and chorus, and eventually turns into the starting pitches of the accompaniment of the bridge. The highest sounding pitches in the right hand of the piano quote the melody of the first line of the Cedar Cliff High School Alma Mater. Their choir becomes the new home.
As you perform this piece, may your singers and audience feel the same sense of camaraderie, friendship, and unity that Mr. Topping has cultivated in the Cedar Cliff Chorale. Let their beacon of choral light inspire you to shine your brightest.
World Premiere Performance by the Cedar Cliff Chorale
May 22, 2024 Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, PA
May 22, 2024 Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, PA
Lead me home
Somewhere I don’t feel alone
‘Cause I’ve been on my own
For too long...
The floors, they creak with that familiar sound
The light switch clicks, but darkness still surrounds
The walls, they echo, no one else around but this great unknown
That I’ve outgrown...
Lead me home
Somewehere I don’t feel alone
I don’t wanna be on my own
For too long...
And at the edge of waters dark and deep
The valley seems to overwhelm the peak
But like a beacon rising in the east brings a new day
You will find your way.
Lead me home
I don’t have to feel alone
I won’t be on my own
For too long...
I’ve always known
That my heart is made of more than stone
It hasn’t always shown,
But it will now.
Calm your fear,
Push off from the shore,
Follow your light,
Your light will guide you,
Cross the dark water,
Leave it behind you,
You are home.
You are home.
You don’t have to feel alone
You’re never on your own when you’re right here,
It’s clear that all we know is together how far we’ll go
And when the cold wind blows
We have no fears.
When our fire grows,
The world hears.
Somewhere I don’t feel alone
‘Cause I’ve been on my own
For too long...
The floors, they creak with that familiar sound
The light switch clicks, but darkness still surrounds
The walls, they echo, no one else around but this great unknown
That I’ve outgrown...
Lead me home
Somewehere I don’t feel alone
I don’t wanna be on my own
For too long...
And at the edge of waters dark and deep
The valley seems to overwhelm the peak
But like a beacon rising in the east brings a new day
You will find your way.
Lead me home
I don’t have to feel alone
I won’t be on my own
For too long...
I’ve always known
That my heart is made of more than stone
It hasn’t always shown,
But it will now.
Calm your fear,
Push off from the shore,
Follow your light,
Your light will guide you,
Cross the dark water,
Leave it behind you,
You are home.
You are home.
You don’t have to feel alone
You’re never on your own when you’re right here,
It’s clear that all we know is together how far we’ll go
And when the cold wind blows
We have no fears.
When our fire grows,
The world hears.