Jonathan
Kulp
Dickinson Songs
|
| Title |
Five Poems
of Emily Dickinson |
PROGRAM
NOTES |
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| Date |
2002 |
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| Medium |
Medium voice and guitar |
The song
cycle Five Poems of
Emily Dickinson
was written in the summer of 2002 for tenor/guitarist Matthew Hinsley
of Austin, Texas. Hinsley had already performed and recorded
several of my Canciones para
niños, and
having seen his amazing performances (singing
and accompanying himself at once), I wanted to write a cycle
specifically for him that would show his abilities to best
advantage. I asked him to choose some texts, and he sent me a
copy of Emily Dickinson's Selected
Poems with dozens of
poems marked as potential song texts.
After reading all of them I decided to use five poems that he hadn't
marked at all. The cycle is constructed in a sort of arch form, with
tempos of slow-fast-slow-fast-slow. The texts exhibit Dickinson's
characteristic charm, wit, and pathos, and I have tried to support them
with similar musical sentiments. Knowing Hinsley's considerable
abilities as a guitarist/singer, I felt free to write fairly
challenging parts for both guitar and voice with full confidence that
he could pull it off, and he does so with an ease that takes one's
breath away. |
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| Duration |
10' |
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| Premiere |
Matthew Hinsley, tenor and guitar; Ashland
University (Ashland, OH), Nov. 15, 2002 |
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| Audio |
Presentiment
(MP3, 2.3 MB) I had been hungry (MP3, 2.4 MB) I'm nobody (MP3, 2.7 MB) I had a guinea (MP3, 2.9 MB) I noticed people disappeared (MP3, 1.6 MB) Ogg vorbis format: Presentiment or here? Matthew Hinsley, tenor and guitar |
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| More Audio |
CBC
broadcast of Dickinson Songs (12 MB) Julie Nesrallah, mezzo; Daniel Bolshoy, guitar |
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| EVEN MORE AUDIO! |
This is a live performance I gave
with soprano Loraine Sims on her faculty recital at LSU, March 6, 2006
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I had a couple of shaky moments,
but was satisfied with the performance overall. Presentiment I had been hungry I'm nobody I had a guinea I noticed people disappeared |
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| Score |
Purchase from Les Productions d'OZ | |||||||
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