Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
***** "The most ACCOMPLISHED DEAF and BLIND person in the WORLD." (Helen Keller's description of Helen May Martin - the subject of this work!). Helen was an American concert pianist who determined from childhood NEVER TO BE DEFINED by her lack of sight and hearing. She was immediately drawn to music, say, "Music is a vibrational expression of the soul in harmony with God."
SATB/Piano duration (choral portion) 4'09"
Carl Fischer CM 9811
**** A SECOND YouTube listing has an INTRODUCTORY VIDEO (0:00 - 2:30) that Randall has played for the audience before beginning the choral section of the work. OR, one could verbally introduce the character or REASON the work was created, so that the audience appreciates the meaning. The OCTAVO of Hands begins at 2:30-6:39 (The New American Voices).
Commissioned by the Deer Creek Chorale, Maryland, Martha S. Banghart, Artistic Director
________________
THE STORY ON WHICH THE WORK WAS BASED
Helen May Martin, born December 18, 189, began leaning against the piano as her cousins took lessons so that she could feel the vibrations. Martin's mother taught Helen music by touching Helen's palms and playing while her daughter's hands were under her hands to indicate the feel and sound of notes. She was taught the different note values by touching beans - a whole note was represented by four beans, a half note by two beans, and a quarter note by one bean.
Helen listened to live radio broadcasts while holding an empty metal can in her hands to capture the vibrations. She later attended music conservatories in Wichita and Cincinnati, her mother interpreting the spoken instruction into hand signs in Helen's palms. She began giving public piano concerts in 1922, and touring and performed in cities across the United States for well over two decades. Helen collected sheet music in braille and other "raised" print systems, and memorized hundreds of classical music works.
TEXT: HANDS ____________________________________________________
HANDS
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
Under the decree of fate's circumstance
I look without seeing and hear without listening.
Now my senses three in synchronized dance
Follow a new cadence of knowing and becoming.
My hands in celestial-like tapestry,
Weave rhythm's language in brilliant synergy.
Touching, feeling, sensing, and grasping the mystery
Of each finger in unrestrained poetry.
With your hand on mine, notes vibrated inner space
At first in disguise, then a language of touch was born -
An eternal symphony spoken in divine whispers.
This harp of broken strings is now radiance transformed!
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
_________________________
* line 1 - Helen was blind and deaf from childhood
Join the over 4,300 subscribers to Randall's channel, and see/hear the other 108 videos he has created. Several new works have just been recorded, including his new extended (six-movement) work, IN PARADISUM - released in the spring (Go to zrstroope.com to listen and see a score.)
***** "The most ACCOMPLISHED DEAF and BLIND person in the WORLD." (Helen Keller's description of Helen May Martin - the subject of this work!). Helen was an American concert pianist who determined from childhood NEVER TO BE DEFINED by her lack of sight and hearing. She was immediately drawn to music, say, "Music is a vibrational expression of the soul in harmony with God."
SATB/Piano duration (choral portion) 4'09"
Carl Fischer CM 9811
**** A SECOND YouTube listing has an INTRODUCTORY VIDEO (0:00 - 2:30) that Randall has played for the audience before beginning the choral section of the work. OR, one could verbally introduce the character or REASON the work was created, so that the audience appreciates the meaning. The OCTAVO of Hands begins at 2:30-6:39 (The New American Voices).
Commissioned by the Deer Creek Chorale, Maryland, Martha S. Banghart, Artistic Director
________________
THE STORY ON WHICH THE WORK WAS BASED
Helen May Martin, born December 18, 189, began leaning against the piano as her cousins took lessons so that she could feel the vibrations. Martin's mother taught Helen music by touching Helen's palms and playing while her daughter's hands were under her hands to indicate the feel and sound of notes. She was taught the different note values by touching beans - a whole note was represented by four beans, a half note by two beans, and a quarter note by one bean.
Helen listened to live radio broadcasts while holding an empty metal can in her hands to capture the vibrations. She later attended music conservatories in Wichita and Cincinnati, her mother interpreting the spoken instruction into hand signs in Helen's palms. She began giving public piano concerts in 1922, and touring and performed in cities across the United States for well over two decades. Helen collected sheet music in braille and other "raised" print systems, and memorized hundreds of classical music works.
TEXT: HANDS ____________________________________________________
HANDS
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
Under the decree of fate's circumstance
I look without seeing and hear without listening.
Now my senses three in synchronized dance
Follow a new cadence of knowing and becoming.
My hands in celestial-like tapestry,
Weave rhythm's language in brilliant synergy.
Touching, feeling, sensing, and grasping the mystery
Of each finger in unrestrained poetry.
With your hand on mine, notes vibrated inner space
At first in disguise, then a language of touch was born -
An eternal symphony spoken in divine whispers.
This harp of broken strings is now radiance transformed!
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
_________________________
* line 1 - Helen was blind and deaf from childhood
Join the over 4,300 subscribers to Randall's channel, and see/hear the other 108 videos he has created. Several new works have just been recorded, including his new extended (six-movement) work, IN PARADISUM - released in the spring (Go to zrstroope.com to listen and see a score.)
