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Snow Songs (2018)

for soprano and piano | 18'


Looking out from my window, I can see much of Rochester. In the winter, it is immersed in snow, and the wind constantly blows snow into the air.

Winter is beautiful in its tranquillity but also cruel and deadly; the streets become wind tunnels, and you can shiver just thinking of how cold and frozen-over the pavement is. Winter is also an alienating experience, since everyone covers their bodies completely. People don't venture outside, so the street can become an eerie place. Perhaps this alienation allows reality to disappear for some time.

In the first song of this cycle, we and the speaker are pulled into the hypnotic dance of snowflakes blowing through the air. The second song is a journey -- a supernatural experience that may be dream or reality. In the third the speaker is disturbed by a seemingly innocent experience. An interlude is followed by a meditation on the sound of the word "I..." and the speaker is unable to articulate the meaning of the song through mere words. The sixth song focuses on the paradox of beauty and brutality present in winter, and its relationship to those of us in safety and shelter. The last song focuses on the dreamlike and fantastical mood that connects all the songs.

Text (by the composer):


1

dancing snow
has begun
to pull me in


2

I stand
silently
in a dark field
far from here
the air goes by me
and suddenly
I stand
in the street outside my apartment window
an old woman
is walking and struggling
through the snow
she slips
and falls
I rush to her
I hold her hands to steady her
her face is hidden by a shawl
I brush it back
but
she won't look at me
then
I look at her hands
and
I think I see your hands
you won't look at me
then
I look for your face
and I think I see my face
then
suddenly
I am floating
far above my street
and the dark field
and the stars surround me
shining
far yet near


3

running through the snow naked with you
should not be this much fun
it reminds me of a primeval time
when the hunt and the kill were all that mattered
yes, it does.


4      (instrumental interlude)


5

I...


6

Morning, cold and damp, brings me snow, sunlit in the street below my window.
Streetside, grass and flowers, choked by the snow, lie frozen.
Thus for the beauty I behold, so much had to die.
What could I say to a flower?
"Thank you?"
"Thank you!"
"Thank you."
What would the flower say?


7

still dreaming
I rise up
and fly
you may think that you see me
but you're only dreaming



First performance: September 29, 2018: Claire Caverly, soprano; Alice Chuaqui Baldwin, piano. "DMA Recital 1." Hatch Hall, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.


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