Still Falls the Rain
Garth Baxter, Composer
Listen on Apple Music / Spotify / YouTube
Category: Choral Music
Instrumentation: SATB chorus and organ
Duration: 7–8 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Publisher: Alymar Publications
Text / Source: Still Falls the Rain by Dame Edith Sitwell
Still Falls the Rain is a lyrical and powerful work for SATB chorus and organ, setting Dame Edith Sitwell’s well-known poem written during the London Blitz of 1940. The poem reflects on human suffering during the Second World War while ultimately pointing toward the enduring love of Christ and the hope that can survive even the most devastating circumstances.
The composition is through-composed, yet it is unified by returning thematic ideas, especially the motive associated with the title words. Baxter’s setting moves from darkness and intensity toward an expressive sense of light and spiritual consolation, using the organ as both an ominous backdrop and a source of resonance and uplift.
Written for medium-difficulty SATB chorus and organ, Still Falls the Rain is especially suitable for sacred concerts, Lenten programs, memorial observances, and choral programs addressing war, suffering, faith, and hope. The work requires expressive sensitivity to textual contrast, careful shaping of layered choral textures, and a strong sense of dramatic progression from darkness toward consolation.
“In Baxter’s Still Falls the Rain, the Kühn Choir of Prague is joined by organist Linda Sitková for a lyrical, uplifting piece based on a well-known poem by Edith Sitwell. Though it concerns the suffering experienced by people during WWII, the text and Baxter’s music ultimately celebrate the indomitable spirit and hope that have enabled people to survive the most devastating circumstances.”
“Baxter’s setting of Edith Sitwell’s “Still Falls the Rain” for chorus and organ begins in darkness—Sitwell wrote the poem during the London Blitz of 1940—with only occasional flickers of light. Baxter’s complex horizontal layering of voices against the ominous backdrop of the organ paints a vivid musical portrait of hopelessness. With the final stanza of Sitwell’s poem, “The sounds the voice…,” the piece turns toward hope and one voice emerges from the crowd (presumably the voice of Christ). It’s a powerfully dramatic moment, effective and memorable in its simplicity.”