Sheet Music for Cello Solo
An extended original piece inspired by U.S. WW2 pilot, John Gillespie Magee’s iconic poem ‘High Flight.’ In the opening he describes the the magnificent and exhilarating sensation of flying. In the more contemplative second section he seems to breach the veil between earth and heaven.
High Flight is part of a collection of pieces by Christian Morris entitled ‘A History of Powered Flight.’
Backing track:
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ….
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
