Three Gnostic Poems

for unaccompanied mixed choir


Fletcher LaVallee Bartholomew
(1918 - 2006)

Choral settings by Greg Bartholomew
of three poems by
Fletcher LaVallee Bartholomew

Coriolis
Gregg Skalinder, conducting
May 17, 2008

The Orlando Chorale
Gregory Ruffer, conducting
March 14, 2009

An Open World
Duration: 3 minutes
Coriolis: "An Open World"
When I Land
Duration: 5 minutes
 Coriolis: "When I Land" Orlando Chorale: "When I Land"
And the Wind
Duration: 4 minutes
 Coriolis: "And the Wind"


An Open World, When I Land and And the Wind are three settings of poems from Fletcher LaVallee Bartholomew's collection entitled And the Wind: Gnostic Poems 1945 - 1979. Minneapolis native Fletcher Bartholomew spent most of his life in aviation, beginning with a childhood flight in a Curtis Robin in 1929. His work in aviation started with a job as an inspector in an aircraft factory. He went on to become a test pilot in World War II, serving at the South India Air Depot at Bangalore, India. He often spoke later of his experience on the ship to India and the people he met travelling around the subcontinent. He subsequently worked in aviation in Munich, Germany, and in Lima, Peru, before he concluded his career working in airport planning and management.

An Open World

There is a certain madness born of sailing
From port to distant port the world around.
There is a certain way it has, unveiling
Unused chambers of the mind so that the sound
Of many different voices can be heard.
- The range of human thoughts and views,
From which with joy can be inferred,
An open world, and paths to choose.

And the Wind

There is an awesome beauty found in sailing
Through black of night upon the open sea,
Your vessel mauled by unseen waves and trailing
Her phosphorescent wake, as steadily,
She plows into the darkness,
And the wind.

When I Land

I fly da Vinci's dream on wings of speed,
With effortless delight I cleave the air,
Free in the boundless realm of sky, I feed
My soul with wonder, questions seeming fair.

Why brought forth to wander on this earth?
Why given this brief breath of life,
To wonder at our enigmatic birth,
To reach for stars, want reason for the strife.
Yet, being here, why try to find a plan?
Why waste time in thought before we go?
Is not life enough for any man?
How many have, as theirs, my answer, “No.”

When I set foot again upon the land,
And darkness gains upon the setting of the sun,
I long to feel the welcome of your hand
In mine, to rest, let Time its silly cycles run,
Life's nights are all too few.
No other hand, no other's look, no other one,
Can bring that peace to mind or heart or soul,
No peace. Although I know there's always fun
In life, to reach that sublime goal,
I must return to you.

Performance History

Premiered May 11, 2008, by Coriolis, Gregg Skalinder conducting, Byron Colby Barn, Grayslake, Illinois
May 17, 2008, by Coriolis, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Evanston, Illinois

"When I Land," March 14, 2009, by the Orlando Chorale, Gregory Ruffer conducting, First United Methodist Church, Orlando, Florida

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