A Jelly-Fish

“A Jelly-Fish” was written for Inversion: Nova in the fall of 2023, and premiered at the concert “Zoology” on January 28th, 2024. Nova is a youth choir under the umbrella of Inversion Ensemble and was under the direction of Trevor Shaw and Katrina Saspirantos for the 2023-2024 season. “A Jelly-Fish” is written in SAB with piano to be more accessible to younger choirs, such as Nova, and is written in a waltz to give it a dance-y feel, mimicking the motions that a jellyfish makes when swimming. “A Jelly-Fish” by Marianne Moore is a tricky poem to analyze, as there are so many things that the author could be alluding to, however, I like to look at the jellyfish in the poem as a representation of the lives we want to cling to. It is human nature to cling to a life that is now changing, and the poem reminds us that sometimes we must let go of our ambitions and let change take over so that we may move on.