Instrumentation mezzosoprano and piano
Vocal Range G3 to Ab5
Timing 13′ in six movements
Composed 1994, revised 2019
Poems by Barbara Goldowsky
Commissioned by Paul Schenly in honour of Barbara Goldowsky
World Premiere June 26, 1996, Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Joanne Uniatowski, mezzosoprano; Michael Borowitz, piano
Programme Notes
Los Alamos
Chemistry
Morning Prayer
Inventory
Love Letter
Watermill
When pianist Paul Schenly approached me to commission a song cycle in honour of his friend, Barbara Goldowsky, he gave me a book of her poetry from which to select texts. The choice was not easy! Barbara’s style is exceedingly musical, and her poems are rich with powerful images and emotions. In the end, I selected six poems encompassing a general theme of love in many manifestations, with an initial burst of primal creation earth-energy unfolding through a continuous and evolving thread of images and relationships.
The poems are taken from Ferry to Nirvana and New Poems by Barbara Goldowsky.
PDF perusal score
First there was light perusalAudio excerpt
Selections performed by mezzo Joanne Uniatowski and pianist Michael Borowitz
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Score $24 print, $14.50 PDF.
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