The Hope Among Us: A Song History

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"The Hope Among Us" appears in Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 6, which she publishes herself, scored in six parts: melody, harmony, high harmony, bass and chord back-up for dulcimers in DAD tuning, plus a baritone dulcimer part in ADA.[1] The volume's table of contents, shown on the DulcimerDownloads listing, gives it 6/8 time and pages 69 to 74 with no composer named, although the same page credits Arbeau, J.S. Bach and Pachelbel, marks "Rosin the Beau" and "The Wellerman" as traditional, and attributes "Oh a Vivre" to Pratt, dated 2021.[1] On her own website Pratt presents the volume as blending original pieces with traditional ones in ensemble settings, a number of them including baritone parts, and the sources consulted here do not settle which kind "The Hope Among Us" is.[2]

Engraving of a robed woman standing with hands clasped in prayer, gazing up toward a sun in the corner, within a decorative border

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi, Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39), engraving, before 1467. Shown for its title; it has no connection to the piece.

According to her DulcimerDownloads biography, Pratt began composing for the dulcimer around 2004 and turned to writing ensemble pieces once she was a member of a dulcimer orchestra in northeastern Connecticut.[3] The sources consulted here say nothing about how the piece came to be written or what its title refers to, and they list no recording of it.[1][2][3]

Our book that contains the song "The Hope Among Us"

Sources

  1. Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 6".
  2. Ellen S. Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements for Mountain Dulcimer Volume 6".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
  4. Image: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi, Hope (from the Tarocchi, series B: Cosmic Principles & Virtues, #39), engraving, before 1467. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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