5 Songs
composed in 2006 - for soprano, oboe, and percussion
In 5 Songs, I work with five different poems by American poet Emily Dickinson. Rather than working within the traditional voice-piano idiom, I wanted to try something different; thus I arrived at this small ensemble. The oboe provides a different type of melodic voice from the soprano; the percussion can take on the piano’s role when playing mallet instruments, but can also provide more colorful accompaniment with other instruments.
Dickinson’s poems are somewhat shocking in their simplicity and straightforward language, but they always seem to me to be hiding layer after layer of meaning underneath.
1. A word is dead
3. There is a solitude of space
4. Proud of my broken heart
