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To the Hands
by Caroline Shaw
The Crossing, a commissioner of the work c. 2021
Genre	Contemporary classical music
Commissioned by	The Crossing, Donald Nally, Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Text	Membra Jesu Nostri, The New Colossus, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre data
Language	English, Latin
Duration	19 minutes
Movements	Six
Scoring	String quintet and Choir
Premiere
Date	June 24, 2016
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Performers	The Crossing, International Contemporary Ensemble, Quicksilver Baroque Ensemble

To the Hands is a six movement piece by American contemporary composer Caroline Shaw which first premiered on June 24, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Commissioned by The Crossing, who would later premier the work, the piece is intended as a reply to the third cantata, Ad Manus, of Membra Jesu Nostri composed by Dieterich Buxtehude in 1680. The name of the piece is a translation of said cantata.

Composition

The piece is written for SATB Choir with accompaniment by a string quintet of 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, and Double bass. As Membra Jesu Nostri is based on different body parts, Ad Manus, To the Hands in English, is specifically about Jesus' crucified hands. While other movements quote and respond to other texts, movement 5 specifically discusses refugee crises. The piece contains uses of string harmonics and extended technique, as well as polyrhythms. Its choral writing has also been compared to Gregorian chant, and portions of the piece have been paraphrased from Membra Jesu Nostri.

Movements

The work is in six movements.

1. Prelude (attacca)
2. in medio/in the midst
3. Her beacon-hand beckons
4. ever ever ever
5. Litany of the Displaced
6. i will hold you

I. Prelude

The movement contains no actual text and uses the syllables "ah, oh, oo, nn, mm," and "na'n'n..." The piece ends with an attacca into movement 2.

II. in medio/in the midst

Contains text of Ad manus and from Membra Jesu Nostri which have been arranged by the composer, in addition to the line in medio manuum nostrarum, which itself is a quotation of Zechariah 13:6.

III. Her beacon-hand beckons

Contains quotations of "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus and additional text as a response by the composer. The movement is without string accompaniment.

IV. ever ever ever

Contains text from the composer describing separate scenes, and the movement's final lines are taken from Dieterich Buxtehude's Ad latus.

V. Litany of the Displaced

This movement uses the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre's data from 2015 on displaced persons by country and in ascending order, with the smallest number being 224 and largest at 7.6 million from Syria. The choir shouts figures of displacement while accompanied by arpeggiated strings with the exception of the contrabass, which is absent in this movement.

VI. i will hold you

The text reprises portions of Zechariah 13:6 from movement 2.

References

1. Shaw, Caroline (December 2016). "To the Hands — note (dec2016)" (PDF). carolineshaw.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
2. Huizenga, Tom (February 24, 2017). "Caroline Shaw's Helping 'Hands'". npr Deceptive Cadence. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
3. "Q&A with Caroline Shaw". www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
4. "Contemporary Composer: Caroline Shaw". Gramophone. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
5. iDMC, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2023.

• Choral compositions
• Compositions by Caroline Shaw
• 2016 compositions
• 21st-century classical music