speak

Duration: 5:30
Voicing: SATB divisi, unaccompanied
Difficulty: Intermediate to Intermediate Advanced
Text: Shane Scott Cook
Year: 2025

This work was selected as the winner of The Capital Hearings’ 2025 Young Composers Competition

Text:

speak
stand
say:

what is right
what is wrong
what is

About the work:

The idea for this work came to me in February 2025, as I found myself feeling helpless in the face of actions taken by the federal administration of the United States government. Each day seemed to bring new attacks on different communities: stripping away rights, denying access, and making this country increasingly inhospitable for so many. I felt (and still feel) paralyzed by the enormity of it all, uncertain whether anything I could do would make a difference. And so, for a while, I did nothing. Over time, though, I came to realize that remaining silent only guaranteed that I would never be part of the change I hoped to see.

I wrote speak as a reminder, first and foremost to myself, that refusing to remain silent is itself a form of action. The gesture of a hand covering the mouth occurs as a motive throughout the piece. The textures of the first half are meant to feel trance-like and overwhelming, mirroring the constant flood of information from the news, social media, and those around us. The second half represents emerging from that haze, and confronting the reality of the present moment.

Writing this piece reminded me that courage rarely begins with certainty, but rather with action despite uncertainty. I hope speak offers that reminder to performers and listeners as well.