6 Songs for Mezzo Soprano and Piano
on poems by Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Carl Sandburg
Publisher
E. C. Schirmer Music Company
Catalog Number
8594
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Classical Vocal Reprints
E. C. Schirmer Music Company
J. W. Pepper
Music Shop Europe
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only available in printed format
Description
A song cycle about the season of Autumn, beginning with leaving Summer behind, and then experiencing the rustling of the crops before harvest as the winds blow through them. The seasonal sense of loss and sadness, depicted by decaying vine leaves and the final song of the last cricket before first frost, is palpable. But there is also the Jack-o’-lantern, with pumpkins spotting the hills, that at first glance appears frightening (but the children know better). Finally there is uplift, as the falling of the leaves through bright Autumn sunlight creates beautiful checkerworks of lights and golden yellows playing upon the ground, a bright show of brilliant color before the coming darkness of Winter.
Texts
1 – Song (Edna St. Vincent Millay)
2 – Ripe Corn (Carl Sandburg)
3 – November (Amy Lowell)
4 – Theme In Yellow (Carl Sandburg)
5 – Splinter (Carl Sandburg)
6 – Haze Gold (Carl Sandburg)
Year of Composition
1990
Duration
10 minutes
Dedication
Mary Shep Mann
First Performance
September 11, 1992
Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland, OH
Katherine Eberle, mezzo soprano
Robin Guy, piano
Listen
Katherine Eberle, mezzo soprano
Robin Guy, piano
Song
(no recording of this song is available)
Ripe Corn
November
Theme In Yellow
Splinter
Haze Gold
(no recording of this song is available)