THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD
Setting for Soprano or Mezzo-Soprano and Alto Saxophone
of the Poem by Wallace Stevens

Publisher
E. C. Schirmer Music Company

Catalog Number
9153

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Description
Juliana Hall’s song setting of the famous Wallace Stevens poem THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD was commissioned by saxophonist Carrie Koffman (faculty, Hartt and Yale Schools of Music). Koffman had the idea to commission a setting of this poem in 13 parts, and to present each part in a very short performance at one of the 13 stops along the Wallace Stevens Walk in Hartford, Connecticut (the path Stevens traversed daily as he walked to and from his job at The Hartford Insurance Company). Being a song composer, Hall asked if she could write the piece with voice, which Koffman embraced enthusiastically. The work, then, is for either a soprano or a mezzo-soprano voice, with alto saxophone, and is a single work in 13 parts.

Text
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Vocal Range
B 3  :  A 5

Duration
15′ 00″

Vocal Tessitura
F 4  :  D 5

Commission
Carrie Koffman

First Performance (on site)
October 16, 2021
Wallace Stevens Walk (13 stops outdoors)
Hartford, Connecticut

Year of Composition
2020

First Performers
Cherie Caluda, soprano
Carrie Koffman, alto saxophone
 

First Concert Performance
October 24, 2021
Hartt School of Music
West Hartford, Connecticut

First Concert Performers
Cherie Caluda, soprano
Carrie Koffman, alto saxophone