To Hope
AVAILABLE JANUARY 2025
“I wish you all could see the view that I see. It is—it is breathtaking.” These words were spoken by California politician Cameron Smyth as he looked out into the crowd of thousands of people holding blue glow sticks at the vigil following the recent shooting at Saugus High School. He was right; the image from the elevated stage was powerful, and it remained etched in my mind as I tried to comprehend why shootings such as this continue to happen in our country.
Almost immediately, the working title Blue Hope—blue to represent Saugus High School, and hope to represent one of the overarching sentiments of the vigil—emerged. Without a formal plan of structure or development, I wrote, allowing the overwhelming emotions of the experience to inform the music.
After finishing the composition, I returned to the working title of Blue Hope. I had never intended for this to be the title—for me, the two words together did not quite work—but at this point, the working title was difficult to escape. In the end, I found a compromise with the title of To Hope, taken from the John Keats poem of the same name. While the word blue obviously has a connection to Saugus High School, the community for whom it was written, removing the word makes the music universal, as school shootings have become a ubiquitous problem. Further, Keats asks for Hope—he personifies the word in the poem, always using a capital letter—any time there is trouble or fear, almost as if Hope is a guardian angel. I can also relate to Keats when he wrote the words:
Should e’er unhappy love my bosom pain,
From cruel parents, or relentless fair;
O let me think it is not quite in vain
To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head!
Perhaps it is simply naivety, but I believe writing music about hope can, in fact, create positive change. To Hope is dedicated to all those affected by the tragedy that occurred at Saugus High School on November 14, 2019.