You Can Tell the World

The spiritual “You Can Tell the World” remained fertile ground for Margaret Bonds’ compositional genius throughout her career. This SSA setting of “You Can Tell the World,” is unique, however, because it diverges from her previous settings for solo voice. The melodic elements remain unchanged from the solo version, however she creates excitement and urgency in the text as evidenced by the masterful eighth-note articulation in the lower two voices and a declarative cadence in vocal parts to replace the percussive energy of the piano provided in the original version.