VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, Casey Rafn, piano

Hear me brothers I have a confess i on pa i nful to
make S i x years I have endured a curse that deepens every
day They say that soon I ’ll cease to hear the very
mus i c of my soul What should be the sense most perfect
i n me fa i ls me shames me taunts me
A s i lence haunts me They ask me Do you
hear the shepherd s i ng i ng faroff soft They ask
me Do you hear a d i stant flut i ng danc i ng
joyously aloft No I th i nk so N o I th i nk so No
God am I Prometheus ex i led i n cha i ns for g i ft i ng
humank i nd my f i re Take my feel i ng Take my
s i ght Take my w i ngs m i dfl i ght but let me hear
the sear i ng roar of a i r before I score the ground Why S i lence
i s God ’s reply and so I beg me take
my l i fe when lo I hear a grace and feel a r i ng i ng
i n me after all So now as leaves of autumn fall I
make my mark and s i gn my name and turn aga i n to
touch my flame of mus i c to the world a broken man as best
I can As ever Faithfully Yours A bell A bell
Hear me and be well
after Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament
by Todd Boss