PHOTO: BETHANIE HINES

Farah (Joy) (2023)
Music by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)
Words by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Instrumentation: voice (range: Bb4 to Bb6) & piano

This is a piano vocal reduction of the orchestral work by the same title. The full orchestral work is available here.

Length: 11 mins
PDF Price: $20+

PDF sheet music will be delivered a few minutes after making payment.

COMPOSER’S NOTE:
Working with the brilliant librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph , we both agreed we wanted to center joy. After years of creating work that centered protest (with a clenched fist and determined mind) , we felt it was time to create work that centered our proclamations for the people and places that we love — and to do this with an open hand and a determined heart. Farah means ‘joy' in Arabic, and the very first words of Bamuthi’s libretto speaks to us directly: "Remember me a Black girl named for Joy, oriented forward toward an eastern star. " 
-DBR

+Dynamic pricing helps us keep this work accessible while letting you pay more at check out, if you choose

WQXR link to hear the premiere concert of Farah, cover image features Joshua Bell playing violin

Listen:
The premiere of Farah (Joy) by New Jersey Symphony (full orchestral version), conducted by Xian Zhang, featuring vocalist Becky Bass, live at NJPAC, is available from WQXR, New York City’s only classical music radio station.

Click here to hear the entire concert from WQXR
 ~2 minutes: Farah (Joy) is introduced
~6 minutes: Farah (Joy) performance begins

This work was commissioned by New Jersey Symphony for full orchestra.

Notable Past Performances:

  • Orchestra Premiere: New Jersey Symphony, Xian Zhang, conductor; Becky Bass, vocalist, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ (2023)

Planning a performance of this work? Please contact us and let us know the date and venue.

Press:
“Like Stravinsky, Daniel Bernard Roumain creates extraordinary musical experiences through unexpected art forms, and that is exactly what he did with the [orchestral] premiere of his new work “Farah (Joy)”…. Roumain and Joseph are synergistic as arts activists and advocates, and the result was unexpected and fresh.” -NJArts

Score sample: