Cypress Choral Music Evangeline - Conte/Phare-Bergh - SSA

Composer: Michel Conte
Arranger: Erica Phare-Bergh
Format: Choral Octavo
Voicing: SSA with piano accompaniment

Evangeline is an epic poem that was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1847. It describes the betrothal of a fictional Acadian girl named Evangeline Bellefontaine to her beloved, Gabriel Lajeunesse, and their separation when the British deported the Acadians from Grand-Pre, Nova Scotia, during the Bay of Fundy Campaign in 1755. The poem follows Evangeline as she spends years in search of Gabriel across America; sometimes she is near Gabriel without even realizing it. As an old woman, she works as a Sister of Mercy among the poor. While tending the dying during an epidemic, she finds Gabriel among the sick, and he sadly dies in her arms. The final verse of Michel Conte's lyrics says, "Your name is more than Acadia . . . it stands for all those who, despite unhappiness, still believe in hope and love."