I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

for SATB mixed choir a cappella
(2023)

Duration: 7′
Premiere: January 27, 2024, by the Vancouver Chamber Choir (Kari Turunen, Artistic Director; Emily M. Cheung, soprano soloist) at the Pacific Spirit United Church in Vancouver, Canada

Program notes

The poem “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” by the American poet Emily Dickinson vividly portrays the speaker’s conscious experience of a mental breakdown, depicting an inner world unraveling into chaos. I aim to parallel the speaker’s journey in this work, providing performers and audiences with a similar experience. It serves as an invitation to explore the depths of human consciousness, confront the fragility of our sanity, and, perhaps, gain a deeper understanding of the human experience.

— Henry Wang, February 2024