# To the Hands

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***To the Hands*** is a six movement piece by American [contemporary composer](/source/Contemporary_classical_music) [Caroline Shaw](/source/Caroline_Shaw) which first premiered on June 24, 2016, in [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania](/source/Philadelphia). Commissioned by [The Crossing](/source/The_Crossing_(choral_ensemble)), who would later premier the work, the piece is intended as a reply to the third cantata, *Ad manus*, of *[Membra Jesu Nostri](/source/Membra_Jesu_Nostri)* composed by [Dieterich Buxtehude](/source/Dieterich_Buxtehude) in 1680.[1] The name of the piece is a translation of said cantata.

## Composition

The piece is written for [SATB Choir](/source/SATB) with accompaniment by a string quintet of 2 [violins](/source/Violin), [viola](/source/Viola), [cello](/source/Cello), and [double bass](/source/Double_bass). As *Membra Jesu Nostri* is based on different body parts, *Ad manus—*"To the hands" in English—is specifically about Jesus' crucified hands.[2] While other movements quote and respond to other texts, movement 5 specifically discusses [refugee crises](/source/Refugee_crisis).[3] The piece contains uses of string [harmonics](/source/String_harmonic) and [extended technique](/source/Extended_technique), as well as [polyrhythms](/source/Polyrhythm). Its choral writing has also been compared to Gregorian chant, and portions of the piece have been paraphrased from *Membra Jesu Nostri*.[4]

## Movements

The work is in six [movements](/source/Movement_(music)).

1. Prelude (attacca)
1. *in medio*/in the midst
1. Her beacon-hand beckons
1. ever ever ever
1. Litany of the Displaced
1. i will hold you

### I. Prelude

The movement contains no actual text and uses the syllables "ah, oh, oo, nn, mm," and "na'n'n..." The piece ends with an [attacca](/source/Attacca) into movement 2.

### II. *in medio*/in the midst

Contains text of *Ad manus* and from *[Membra Jesu Nostri](/source/Membra_Jesu_Nostri)* which have been arranged by the composer, in addition to the line *in medio manuum nostrarum,* which itself is a quotation of [Zechariah 13:6](/source/Zechariah_13#Idolatry_cut_off_(13:1–6)).

### III. Her beacon-hand beckons

Contains quotations of "[The New Colossus](/source/The_New_Colossus)" by [Emma Lazarus](/source/Emma_Lazarus) and additional text as a response by the composer. The movement is without string accompaniment.

### IV. ever ever ever

Contains text from the composer describing separate scenes, and the movement's final lines are taken from [Dieterich Buxtehude](/source/Dieterich_Buxtehude)'s *Ad latus*.

### V. Litany of the Displaced

This movement uses the [Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre](/source/Internal_Displacement_Monitoring_Centre)'s data from 2015 on displaced persons by country and in ascending order, with the smallest number being 224 and largest at 7.6 million from Syria.[5] The choir shouts figures of displacement while accompanied by arpeggiated strings with the exception of the contrabass, which is absent in this movement.

### VI. i will hold you

The text reprises portions of Zechariah 13:6 from movement 2.

## References

1. Shaw, Caroline (December 2016). ["To the Hands — note (dec2016)"](https://carolineshaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/TO-THE-HANDS-NOTE.pdf). *carolineshaw.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230427165027/https://carolineshaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/TO-THE-HANDS-NOTE.pdf) April 27, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 12, 2023.

1. Huizenga, Tom (February 24, 2017). ["Caroline Shaw's Helping 'Hands'"](https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/02/24/513911379/caroline-shaws-helping-hands). *npr Deceptive Cadence*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230210233202/https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/02/24/513911379/caroline-shaws-helping-hands) February 10, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 14, 2023.

1. ["Q&A with Caroline Shaw"](https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/kc/article/qa-with-caroline-shaw/). *www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org*. Retrieved 2023-07-14.

1. ["Contemporary Composer: Caroline Shaw"](https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/contemporary-composer-caroline-shaw). *Gramophone*. Retrieved 2023-07-14.

1. iDMC, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. ["Annual Report 2015"](https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/201607-annual-report-2015-en.pdf). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230615050721/https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/201607-annual-report-2015-en.pdf) June 15, 2023 at the Wayback Machine.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [To the Hands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Hands) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_the_Hands?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.