All of Me
All of Me
Kyle Pederson (2023)
Movement III of A Vision Unfolding
SATB, Music by Kyle Pederson
Text by Kyle Pederson
Instrumentation: piano, with optional violin
Text:
Look at my skin.
Do you see only skin, or the soul within... do you see what’s true?
Look who I love.
Do you view me as less, like none of the rest of me matters to you?
Turn off the talk on the air,
and the voices who seem to just care about dividing and hiding us where you won’t see.
Look at my faith.
Do you see my creed, and choose to believe that’s all of me?
Look at my vote.
On that alone are you likely to show contempt for me?
You don’t have to see.
But if you take the time to look at me, you’ll see the same fears and a good heart, and the same tears that tear you apart.
See the same love, the same hope,
the same need, the same joy.
So look at my skin.
See the skin and the soul within. See what’s true.
Look who I love.
And see my faith and my vote, but not those alone,
seek to know me, too.
Turn up the voices of truth. Learn to let mercy through. Love will guide us to
a world where we see.
All of me.
Turn and see. Will you see? All of me.
Commissioned by:
Sponsoring Members
Festival Singers of Florida, directed by Dr. Kevin Fenton
Tennessee Tech University, directed by Dr. Craig Zamer
University of Dayton, directed by Dr. Steven Hankle
Participating Members
VocalEssence, directed by Philip Brunelle and G. Phillip Shoultz, III
University of Mississippi, directed by Dr. Donald Trott
Northwest Missouri State University, directed by Dr. Adam Zrust
Florida State University, directed by Dr. Kevin Fenton
PROGRAM NOTE:
I think we all sense our communities becoming more fractured; we witness individual relationships fraying in our neighborhoods, schools, churches, places of work, and even our families. One of the root causes of this is, I believe, how quick we are to judge others—and hold others in contempt— for their politics, their religion, gender or sexual expression, skin color, class, education level, and a host of other characteristics. This piece is an invitation to lay down our judgments. It’s also an invitation to see those aspects of identity that are important to people...but to see people around us as more than just a collection of isolated characteristics...to see all of them.
Optional Spoken Word:
This piece is the third movement in A Vision Unfolding, and is preceded by a spoken word prologue.