Title: Nature: The Gentlest Mother
Author: Emily Dickenson
Time: 3 Minutes
Orchestration: Art Song Duet
Kind: Art Song
Instrumentation: Mezzo-Soprano & Piano
Program Notes: “Nature, the Gentlest Mother” was written as an assignment for Professor Joseph Golden’s Form and Analysis Class at Columbus State University, Spring of 2009. In this project, I was assigned the task of writing an original work in an Impressionist style, including some of the more prominent features of music from this period as duple-against-triple rhythms, planing, the use of higher-tersian harmonies such as the 9th or the 13th, as well as word painting for songs. I chose as my text, the words of Emily Dickinson. Indeed, her words, as I read them over and over, brought to mind images that I would later think about in use within the composition. A gentle texture, and a plaintive melody hopefully give way to a range of color, image & emotion, as inspired by Dickinson’s work.
Key: D-flat
Written: Spring, 2009
Premiered: Spring, 2009
Performers:
Emma Neumeister, Mezzo-Soprano
Rachel Olsen, Piano
