Song for a May Morning, 1914. Patty Stair, 1869-1926. Music Division, Library of Congress. Call number: M1570.S

Patty Stair wrote Song for a May Morning in 1914 to address the needs of the burgeoning women's musical clubs that gained popularity during the first part of the twentieth century. The piece begins with a lively duet between the upper two voices. The alto parts join the texture in close imitation of the top voices. A homophonic section follows featuring more adventurous harmonies and chromatic passing tones for "the songs that banish winter's fret." A recapitulation of the opening imitative music precedes a concluding homophonic statement in praise of spring: "Insistent voices ne'er forget the message of the daffodil, the gospel of the violet."