"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" by Byron Adams • Washington Men's Camerata

A poignant, a cappella setting, by Byron Adam (b. 1955), of William Butler Yeats' chilling poem. Adams shares, "The protagonist who speaks throughout An Irish Airman Foresees His Death is not merely an abstract persona invented by Yeats in order to articulate his poetic message, but was intended to represent the voice of Major Robert Gregory, whose own voice was stilled forever when he was killed in the first World War. Major Gregory, who grew up near the Irish village of Kiltartan, fully exemplified in his life the disinterested heroism attributed to him by Yeats in the poem. I composed this musical setting of Yeats' elegy in wartime. I deliberately chose the male chorus as the most appropriate and poignant medium with which to realize musically this meditation on war and its inexcusable waste of noble lives. An Irish Airman Foresees His Death was written for and is dedicated to Dr. Jerry Blackstone and the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club." Washington Men's Camerata conducted by Scott Tucker in "The Dawn of Peace" concert in 2024.
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
Washington Men's Camerata, directed by Scott Tucker, is DC's premier chorus performing, promoting, and preserving diverse tenor and bass choral music and camaraderie since 1984. The Camerata has performed at The Kennedy Center, The White House, Smithsonian institutions, National Gallery of Art, Wolf Trap, Strathmore, and across the region; alongside National Symphony Orchestra, The U.S. Army Chorus, Washington Symphonic Brass, Mark Morris Dance Group, Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia, and on NPR, PBS, and SiriusXM. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Camerata has recorded six albums and regularly commissions and premieres pieces, part of a national lending library of sheet music, The Demetrius Project, with over 200,000 scores of 3,300 works. www.camerata.com/