White Goddess

Free download.  You get a pdf of: the full score, shorter score for piano, and vocal score. You also get an mp3 of the recording: Mary Alice Amidon on Margaret Dale Barrand on melody with Tony Barrand singing an improvised harmony line.  Accompanied by Peter Amidon’s improvised piano. The score is a transcription of this performance.  Composer Jennifer Armstrong is a musician/singer/storyteller who lives in Maine.  Lyrics below.

The Story Behind “The White Goddess”

LYRICS

The White Goddess
© Jennifer Armstrong

I am the morning the light at the dawn,
I am the maiden beginning her song.
Golden light opens the sky to share;
freshness, newness, hope is my prayer.

Spring is my mantle, flowers my crown,
the joy of the rain, pattering down.
Holding the lover close to my heart,
ever renewing, that is my part.

Spring, maiden, morning, love is mine.

I am the heat at the fullness of noon,
I am the mother, the birth coming soon.
Summer comes in with sweat and with strain
tending the fruit and the ripening grain.

The babe in my arms, the milk from my breast,
flowing, giving, soon we will rest.
I am the barley bound fast to the cart,
the harvest is in, that is my part

Summer, harvest, mother, birth is mine.

I am the evening, the darkness of night,
flowers and fruits are covered from sight.
Winter comes in with harsh despair;
silence fills the brittle air.

The black of my cloak enshrouds us all
only the silent will hear my call.
I am the ending before the new start,
I am death that is my part.

Winter, stillness, darkness death is mine.

I am the night, the noon and the dawn,
I am the silence and I am the song
Maiden and mother and aged crone,
Three in one, never alone.

Love, birth, death, all is mine.