Garrop’s Terra Nostra is a 67 minute, three movement oratorio that focuses on the relationship between our planet and mankind, how this relationship has shifted over time, and how we can re-establish a harmonious balance. This concept is presented over the course of three parts.

The first movement, “Creation of the World,” explores various creation myths from different cultures, culminating in a joyous celebration of the beauty of our planet. Next, “The Rise of Humanity” concentrates on the growing human civilization, celebrating man’s various achievements while also noting the issues and strains humanity is putting on the planet. The piece ends with “Searching for Balance,” which questions how we can create more awareness for our planet’s plight, re-establish a deeper connection to it, and find a balance for living within our planet’s resources.

Terra Nostra was commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Society in collaboration with the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir.

Part I: Creation of the World
1. Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Chorus. In the Beginning - King James Bible; creation myths from India, North America, and Egypt
2. Chorus. God's World - Edna St. Vincent Millay
3. Children. On thine own child - Percy Bysshe Shelley
4. Baritone. Smile O voluptuous cool-breathed earth! - Walt Whitman
5. Children, Chorus. A Blade of Grass - Walt Whitman
Part II: The Rise of Humanity
6. Tenor, Chorus. Locksley Hall - Lord Alfred Tennyson
7. Men of the Chorus. Railways 1846 - Charles Mackay
8. Baritone, Chorus. A Song of Speed - William Ernest Henley
9. Chorus. High Flight - John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
10. Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano. Binsey Poplars - Gerard Manley Hopkins
11. Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Chorus. A Dirge - Percy Bysshe Shelley
Part III: Searching for Balance
12. Mezzo-Soprano, Women of the Chorus. Darkness - Lord Byron
13. Tenor, Baritone. Earth Screaming - Esther Iverem
14. Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Chorus. The World Is Too Much With Us - William Wordsworth
15. Chorus. The Want of Peace - Wendell Berry
16. Soprano. A Child said, What is the grass? - Walt Whitman
17. Children. There was a child went forth every day - Walt Whitman
18. Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Children, Chorus. A Blade of Grass/I bequeath myself - Walt Whitman