A man saw a ball of gold in the sky (2025)
for SATB choir and vibraphone
August 23d and 24th, 2025-Premiere performances by Roots in the Sky
Tinworks Art, Bozeman, MT
Andrew Major, conductor
Jeff Vick, percussion
XXXV [A man saw a ball of gold in the sky]
by Stephen Crane
A man saw a ball of gold in the sky; He climbed for it,
And eventually he achieved it—
It was clay.
Now this is the strange part:
When the man went to the earth
And looked again,
Lo, there was the ball of gold.
Now this is the strange part:
It was a ball of gold.
Aye, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.
Genesis 2-7 (VULGATE)
7 Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae, et inspiravit in faciem ejus spiraculum vitae, et factus est homo in animam viventem.
Isaiah 64:8-9 (WYC)
8 And now, Lord, thou art our father; forsooth we be clay, and thou art our maker, and all we be the works of thine hands. (But now, Lord, thou art our father; and we be but clay, and thou art our Maker, and we all be the works of thy hands.)
9 Lord, be thou not wroth (any more than) enough, and have thou no more mind on our wickedness. Lo! Lord, behold thou, all
we be thy people. (Lord, be thou not angry any more than enough, and no more remember thou our wickedness. Lo! Lord, behold thou, we all be thy people.)