Official Notice

"Official Notice" is the first song of Siegmeister's The Face of War cycle, which sets five texts of Langston Hughes.

Date: 1966Composer: Elie SiegmeisterText: Langston HughesSong Collection: The Face of War

Print vitals & song text

Text

Official Notice
by Langston Hughes

Dear Death:
I got your message
That my son is dead.
The ink you used
To write it
Is the blood he bled.
You say he died with honor
On the battlefield,
And that I am honored, too,
By this bloody yield.
Your letter
Signed in blood,
With his blood
Is sealed.

–The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, p. 558

Sheet Music

The Face of War

Composer(s): Elie Siegmeister

Voice Type: Low

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