Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Music by Lauren Biggs
Words by Stepan Shchipachev
Performed on March 2, 2023 at Azusa Pacific University

Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/0Ofj3I3XRF9ArBvqhuFg1h?si=HlCWCFCxTWqpuNva5wY24g

Program notes:

Stepan Shchipachev (1899-1980) was an officially sanctioned Soviet poet who developed a unique voice during a time of war and industrialization. The poem “Be wise and treasure love” uses imagery of nature to highlight the relationship between humanity and the natural world.
This piece was written for the 2023 Student Composer Showcase and performed at Azusa Pacific University by a student ensemble. “Be wise and treasure love” begins with a pensive piano introduction, transitioning into a canon-like layering of voices that settle on the Russian word, “lyubov’yu”—meaning with love. Section B depicts a more childlike and romanticized perspective on love and gradually climaxes into a piano interlude/waltz. At the recapitulation, the choir ends again on the word “lyubov’yu” with an even richer cluster, as if the protagonist, now matured, is leaving the scene with more questions about love than they came with.

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