Mourning (Choral Song Set)

I recently decided to write a couple songs to a couple poems, and after the second one I realized they would work well in a set. I'm still journeying to find an ending poem or two. The audio and pdfs will be in the order of performance. Now some details about each song and the set in total.

The set is about a journey shortly after the death of a loved one.

The first song is "[Writing about a terminal illness:]" which talks about the inescapability of their disease. Writing about a terminal illness.pdf

The Second song "Threadsuns" is about the death itself, from the perspective of the one who died, and what let him to end his life. Threadsuns.pdf

The Third song is "Mourning Song" which is a wordless song intended to create a feeling of fear or confusion while hinting at liturgical style at the beginning and end. It is intended to create the experience of a running mind that cannot focus in the face of grief. The 10/4 section is meant to feel like racing thoughts while trying to be present. Mourning Song.pdf

The fourth song is "[Writing about a family member's recent death:]" and it is a shockingly powerful poem written by a 4th grader. It very beautifully explains that their Brother is dead. Writing about a family member's recent death.pdf

The fifth song is "Echo" where the speaker wishes and pleads for their love to come back. Echo.pdf 

The last song of the current set is "Love of My Flesh, Living Death" which is a simple poem about someone who recognizes a bird, in some way, as a reincarnation of their love. Love of My Flesh, Living Death.pdf 

Hi @Some Guy That writes Music,

I love "Threadsuns". It seems very calm for me and I love those antiphonal texture, seems to me a recall to his past life. I just find the clash in b.3 between alto and tenor and similar places sounds a little bit off for me but overall this is very soothing to listen to.

I love you Mourning Song having the quality of a parallel organum, very suitable for a mourning song for me with its antique quality and it shows the bareness of death well. I think your usage of breve shows the style as well.

For "Writing about a family member's recent death" I like your overall design: first with imitative counterpoint then with unison. It's just the rendition here where the tenor has the loudest sound here making the imitation less balanced here, but the idea is good!

For "Echo" , I like the dorian in b.34. With the changing crescendos and decrescendos it does give me a feeling of echo, but I think adding more antiphonal texture can reflect the idea better!

For "Love of My Flesh, Living Death", I love the last section with parallel and in 7/8 signature. Does it signify the pain suffered? The modulation to dominant B minor at the end signifies the enhancement of pain?

Thanks for sharing!

Henry