The Plight Of The Bumblebee – Youth choir
The Plight of The Bumblebee, for youth choir, with solo violin accompaniment, takes us with the bees, on a flight over meadows, in search of nectar. The piece has beautiful lyrical sections contrasting with the angry hum of the bees, using pitches that replicate those of real bees, as they search in vain, angry at their habitat being taken. We then return with them over ideas of lush meadows.
A delightful piece full of gorgeous melodies and some choral challenges, suitable for a capable/advanced youth choir.
The Plight of The Bumblebee is a great, topical, environmental piece to draw attention to the serious plight of our beautiful bumblebees.
Also arranged for children’s choir (Dance of The Bees)
Interesting programme notes below!
Price: £10.00 (full score with separate violin part included)
(Permission to print as many copies as required by the choir)
Sound-file may be downloaded for free, to assist learning.
View sample of score:
Listen here: (electronic sound file)
Description
I love bees! I love watching them, up to fifty at a time on my lavender bushes, I love their sound. It’s so relaxing to watch them peacefully, busily at work. Bees “are summer”.
In Britain, we “look after” around 20% of the world’s species of bumble bees, so we really do need to look after them. This piece, along with the poetry, is “for the bees”.
The piece begins with the bees doing their waggle dance, to pass on information as to the direction and distance of the flowers from which they can gather their nectar and pollen. The upper sopranos begin, joined by soprano two and alto, as more and more bees join in the dance: “Join the dance! Join the dance!” We then fly with them, over luscious meadows, through the glorious blooms. After deciding to tell more friends, the mood changes: there is a short section where the bees lament their loss of habitat, and food. Then angry buzzing: angry bees. The humming of the bees uses the pitches around 200-300 hz, (G sharp-D) which is the pitch of the hum of a hive of bees… but the bees do find a field in which to forage.The bees recognise that we, the humans, have at last “seen the light”, recognised their plight, and taken joy in watching their freedom, moving us to react: they fly free, in their meadow of “a thousand flowers!”
In 2022 I published “Bees”, a book of poetry full of poems about bees, to raise funds for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which is doing wonderful work to promote habitat conservation, and how we can all help.
Additional information
| download product | Score, mp3 |
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