Melissa Dunphy

About

Commissioned by the University of Missouri University Singers (R. Paul Crabb, conductor) with funding from the Mizzou New Music Initiative through the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

A rollicking shanty-like song about love and loss for intermediate mixed chorus, with lyrics from largely forgotten late-19th-century Missourian poet Isabel Grimes Richey.

Artwork by Melissa Dunphy.

Lyrics

Sailing Away
By Isabel Grimes Richey, A Harp of the West (1895)

Thy sails are set on the unseen sea,
Sailing away, sailing,
The wave are bearing thee far from me,
Love stands wailing:
Pale mists slowly rise between,
Mists of parting tears, I ween,
Wrapping thee in shadow sheen,
Thy face veiling.

What is this that is borne to me,
Sailing away, sailing?
“Thou’lt meet again, on the unseen sea;
Cease thy wailing:
Out where the waves of Time, shall be
Met by the waves of Eternity,
Light shall pierce the mists for thee
All unveiling.”

Performances

• 07 Mar, 2026: Chorus Inspira at Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Canada
• 18 Nov, 2025: McGill University Chorus at Redpath Hall, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• 26 Apr, 2025: Christopher Wren Singers at Wren Chapel, Wren Building, Williamsburg, VA
• 20 May, 2024: Quintessence at St. John's United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, NM
• 19 May, 2024: Quintessence at St. John's United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, NM
• 20 Apr, 2024: Pro Coro Alexandria at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria, VA
• 25 Jun, 2023: Renaissance Voices at Fifth Maine Museum, Peaks Island, ME
• 09 Jun, 2023: In Medio Choir at Augustana Lutheran Church, Portland, OR
• 13 May, 2023: Renaissance Voices at St. Luke’s Cathedral, Portland, ME
• 01 May, 2021: University of Missouri University Singers at University of Missouri, Sinquefield Music Center, Columbia, MO