What is “a stealthy force of darkness in the shadows whose footsteps sparkle in the moonlight?” This the question your choir will need to answer before performing this piece. The last two measures include a “fill in the blank” opportunity, so every performance will showcase the singers’ creative response to Melanie Stapleton’s challenge. Careful dynamic shifts and vocal sound effects create the illusion of sound moving from one side of the choir to another, almost as if a “stealthy force” were moving around the stage.
In the SACB version, Part 3 is written with cambiatas (male changing voices) in mind, so it has a limited range, and Part 4 is always doubling either Part 2 or Part 3 to provide extra security for new baritones. Similarly, in the T(C)TB version, the highest part is written in the cambiata range.
Project:Encore added it to their peer-reviewed catalog, writing that it demonstrates "brilliant respect for cambiata parameters" and a "genuine musical challenge" that is "Worth it!"