Description
Three Songs for Baritone and Piano (2007-2008, rev. 2015)
I. Full Fathom Five (William Shakespeare)
II. O süße Leier (Friedrich Nietzsche)
III. Gram piant’ agli occhi (Francesco Landini)
In the Tempest, Ariel is sent by Prospero to retrieve Ferdinand, which she does with a song – settings by two 17th century composers survive, though both set only the consoling second half of the poem. By contrast, my setting of Nietzsche’s O süße Leier rings out in chords of resignation in an over-ripe (though highly restricted) chromatic language in ascetic farewell to the external world. The third song was originally written for the opening of the West Chester Poetry Center in 2007 to a poem by Mauro Liuzi. While preparing for the current recording I decided to try a contrafacta with Landini’s Gram piant’ agli occhi, a balata that I had sung numerous times with my trio Trefoil. This supplied a poetic symmetry between the outer two songs that felt more convincing, even more so because the last part of the refrain cuts off prematurely – ending in a flood of tears. The songs were written for and dedicated with thanks to my colleagues Randall Scarlata and Carl Cranmer.
