Tag: Walt Whitman

Posted on

Laws for Creations (2008/Arr. 2024)

Tenor and piano. 3 1/2 mins.

Text by Walt Whitman.

Perusal Score

View perusal score.

Score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Program Note

“Presented here in a new version for tenor, Laws for Creations is one of my earliest compositions for classical voice: an art song originally written in 2008 for baritone. I was compelled by Walt Whitman’s treatment of the themes of creativity and self-determination, and sought to respond to the spirit of his poetry in my musical setting.”

Text

Laws for Creations,
For strong artists and leaders—for fresh broods of
teachers, and perfect literats for America,
For noble savans, and coming musicians.

All must have reference to the ensemble of the world,
and the compact truth of the world;
There shall be no subject too pronounced—All works
shall illustrate the divine law of indirections.

What do you suppose Creation is?
What do you suppose will satisfy the Soul, except to
walk free, and own no superior?
What do you suppose I would intimate to you in a hun-
dred ways, but that man or woman is as good as
God?
And that there is no God any more divine than Your-
self?
And that that is what the oldest and newest myths
finally mean?
And that you or any one must approach Creations
through such laws?

“Laws for Creations” by Walt Whitman from “Leaves of Grass” (1871 edition).

Performance History

Burchfield Penney Art Center,  Buffalo Opera Unlimited (Alexander Kosmowski, tenor and Matthew Marco, piano), Buffalo, NY, 8/4/24.

For performance history of baritone version, see Songs for Baritone.

Posted on

Proofs of Coming Fullness (2024)

Tenor and piano. 4 mins.

Text by Walt Whitman.

Perusal Score

View perusal score.

Score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Program Note

“In his 1882 autobiography Specimen Days, Walt Whitman penned a series of vividly observed miniature prose pieces documenting his impressions of the natural world. Excerpted from an entry dated April 6, the text of Proofs of Coming Fullness describes an early spring morning in which Whitman observes signs of seasonal change. This song was composed as a complementary work to my operatic monodrama The Coming of Spring— which also highlights the phenomena of early spring, as depicted in the art and journals of Charles E. Burchfield —and for World Premiere in conjuction with the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s exhibit Embracing Earth: Burch􏰄eld & Whitman.”

Text

“I am sitting in bright sunshine, at the edge of the creek, the surface just rippled by the wind. All is solitude, morning freshness, negligence. […] Then a poor little dead leaf, long frost-bound, whirls from somewhere up aloft in one wild escaped freedom-spree in space and sunlight, and then dashes down to the waters, which hold it closely and soon drown it out of sight. The bushes and trees are yet bare, but the beeches have their wrinkled yellow leaves of last season’s foliage largely left, frequent cedars and pines yet green, and the grass not without proofs of coming fullness. And over all a wonderfully fine dome of clear blue, the play of light coming and going, and great fleeces of white clouds swimming so silently.”

From “Specimen Days” (1882) by Walt Whitman.

Performance History

Burchfield Penney Art Center,  Buffalo Opera Unlimited (Joe Dan Harper, tenor and Matthew Marco, piano), Buffalo, NY, 8/4/24.

Posted on

The Open Road (2023/Arr. 2024)

Tenor and piano. 3 mins.

A selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble.

Text by Walt Whitman.

Perusal Score

View perusal score.

Score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Program Note

“The Open Road” is a selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble. This selection, which forms the opening number of the work, sets excerpts from Walt Whitman’s invigorating “Poem of The Road.” Originally scored for SATB choir with an instrumental quartet of flute, piano, electric guitar, and cello, the song is presented here in a reduced arrangement for solo tenor and piano.

Text

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road!
Healthy, free, the world before me!
The long brown path before me, leading wherever
I choose!

The earth expanding right hand and left hand, the picture alive, every part in its best light, the music falling in where it is wanted, and
stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay
fresh sentiment of the road.

From this hour, I ordain myself loosed of limits and imaginary lines!
Going where I list—my own master, total and absolute,

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road!
Healthy, free, the world before me!
The long brown path before me, leading wherever
I choose!

The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.

The open road!

Excerpt from “Poem of The Road” by Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass (1856 edition).

Performance History

Burchfield Penney Art Center,  Buffalo Opera Unlimited (Joe Dan Harper, tenor and Matthew Marco, piano), Buffalo, NY, 8/4/24.

Posted on

Sauntering Songs (2023)

Cantata for 2 sopranos, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 2 tenors, baritone, bass-baritone, and SATB chamber choir, with flute, guitar (electric, acoustic, and classical), piano, and cello. 62 minutes.

Commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble.

Album cover art for "Sauntering Songs," with title and credits. Photograph of a distant figure walking on a dirt path through grassy hills on a sunny day. Bird logo for "Skylark Live" in bottom corner.

Read the liner notes with essays and lyrics.

Skylark Vocal Ensemble’s World Premiere live recording of Sauntering Songs (paired with Transform the World with Beauty) is available NOW on all major streaming music platforms (including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, and Tidal). The physical CD is available for purchase from Skylark. Read the liner notes with essays and lyrics.

Watch the trailer:

A love letter to wanderlust, Sauntering Songs weaves together art songs, choral music, and literature into an expansive cantata on the theme of walking.

Influences from rock, folk, and musical theater shine in a lyrical and evocative score by composer/librettist Nell Shaw Cohen, marrying the voices of three-time GRAMMY®-nominee Skylark with an instrumental quartet comprised of guitarist James Moore and musicians from Juventas New Music Ensemble.

From Walt Whitman to the present day, Sauntering Songs celebrates diverse characters who search for freedom and fulfillment through subversive journeys on foot.

Perusal Score

Perusal score available on request. Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Selections available for standalone performance (click titles for details and perusal scores):

Credits

Music & Libretto by Nell Shaw Cohen
With texts by John Clare, Megan Cohen, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, John Francis, John Muir, Nan Shepherd, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf

Dramaturg: Megan Cohen (Website)
Sensitivity Consultant for song “Best Friend”: Laura Elliott (Twitter)
Sensitivity Consultant for song “Rare Bird”: Dr. Kassandra Ford (Website)

Photograph of Skylark Vocal Ensemble, wearing black and dark plum concert dress, standing in a semicircle and smiling toward the camera in a grassy outdoor setting
Skylark Vocal Ensemble
Juventas New Music Ensemble in concert dress, standing under a tree and holding their instruments as they face the camera
Juventas New Music Ensemble
Black and white photograph of James Moore, looking towards the camera
James Moore, Guitar
Performance History

Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; Falmouth Academy, Falmouth, MA, 4/20/23.

Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, MA, 4/21/23

Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newburyport, MA, 4/22/23.