FOUR SONGS ON POEMS OF SEAMUS HEANEY - Sop & Orch

FOUR SONGS ON POEMS OF SEAMUS HEANEY - Sop & Orch

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Scoring & Instrumentation
Soprano and Chamber Orchestra
2121 - 2211 - perc (2) harp, strings, Soprano solo
Alternate Title

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Year Authored (or revised)
Duration (min)
12
Movements

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Files & Media

Audio

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Video
Sample Pages

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Detail

Description

Composer's Note:

The orchestral version of Four Songs on Poems of Seamus Heaney was completed in 2019 for a concert of the 11th season of the Orchestra of the League of Composers. It is based on a chamber version of the songs, written in 2012 for three groups, Ensemble Périphérie in Iowa, Magnetic South in Charleston, South Carolina, and Ensemble mise-en in New York. The four poems are taken from several collections of the Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, and I arranged them in an order that seemed to suggest an overarching musical shape. All are descriptive vignettes, emerging out of inner visions, or observations both large and small. The first poem, Lightenings iv, takes as its point of departure the roar of a crowd in an ancient coliseum with reverberations echoing throughout the amphitheater. The second, The Rain Stick, describes, in very accurate detail, a most intriguing percussion instrument (although the instrument’s appearance within the song is delayed until its final moments). The third poem, Lightenings i, evokes the image of a beggar in a doorway sparking thoughts of the frailty of the human condition. The final poem, Settings xxiv, is an exquisite panorama of a harbor shimmering in stillness.

Comments

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First Perfomance
June 1, 2019 Miller Theatre, Columbia University; Orchestra of the League of Composers, Heather Buck, soprano, Louis Karchin, conductor
Recording

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Text Language - Non English

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Text Source/Author
Poems by Seamus Heaney - The Rain Stick, from Spirit Level Lightenings i, iv, and Settings xxiv, from Seeing Things Used with permission of Faber and Faber, London.
Title Number
Ensemble Type
solo voice(s)+large ensemble or orchestra
Genre/Theme
poet/author featured
Instrument
Soprano
Purchase Options
PDF License & Download
PDF Price
Print & Ship
$75.00 full orchestral score: ACA-KARC-031
$21.00 Soprano-Piano rehearsal score: ACA-KARC-031v
Contact [email protected] for inquiries into part purchase or rental.