A Choral Piece "Forever Forward"
for Mixed Chorus, with Piano or a cappella
合唱曲「Forever Forward」
混声合唱版（ピアノ伴奏・無伴奏）
Text and Music by Kentaro Sato (Ken-P)
作詞・作曲 佐藤賢太郎（Ken-P）
Mixed Chorus ver. SATB （混声四部版）
Mixed Chorus ver. SAB （混声三部版）
This piece is a charity piece, and you make copies of the piece for your performance freely.
Text/歌詞
English Lyrics / 英語詩
Forever Forward
How I remember
the warm and loving touch of your gentle hand.
How I remember
the generous and fine tone of your voice.
How I remember
the openness and sincerity of your longing look, in prayerful serenity.
When I close my eyes,
the image of our time together hovers before me,
and I recall the peaceful tones of harmony in song,
when our voices fused.
The fading music does not mean
that we have bid one another final farewell.
Whenever fresh melodies blossom into life anew,
the vision of your presence will live again and again in my memory.
How I remember
the precious dream for which you undertook your quest.
How I remember
your tender smile directed toward new tomorrows.
Prompted by memories of you that my heart contains,
step by step, I move forward.
Determined to embrace the happiness and sadness that each day brings,
step by step, I move ever forward.
Step by step,
my memories of you move me forever forward.
Note / ノート
This piece was composed as a charity choral work for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011. The original Japanese title is "前へ (Mae-e)" and it means "forward." The original version is available for free in Japanese characters and in alphabetized Japanese.
There are SA, SSAA, TTBB, SAB, and SATB versions of this piece in the original, and different versions can be performed together with or without piano (Currently, SATB is available for English version). Please let me know if you are interested in performing in different version.
I would like to thank my American friends, Jack de Mello, Louis Lebherz, Mary Reale, April Amante, Patrick Vaughn and, especially, Dr. Robert Zaslavsky for their helps and suggestions I've got during making this English version.