The Brontë Songs (2006)
a song cycle for voice and piano
I. My Soul is Awakened - 2:45 (C4-E5)
II. The Sun has Set - 2:45 (B3-B4)
III. The Night - 1:30 (C4-D5)
IV. If Grief for Grief can Touch Thee - 3:00 (B3-D5)
V. 'Tis Moonlight - 1:45 (A3-B4)
I. My Soul is Awakened - 2:45 (C4-E5)
II. The Sun has Set - 2:45 (B3-B4)
III. The Night - 1:30 (C4-D5)
IV. If Grief for Grief can Touch Thee - 3:00 (B3-D5)
V. 'Tis Moonlight - 1:45 (A3-B4)
Program Notes and Recording Information
All songs recorded at the premiere performance on 22 October, 2006 at Snyder Recital Hall, Ohio Northern University
I. My Soul is Awakened - poem by Anne Brontë
This song attempts to capture the wonder of nature that Anne was feeling. The end of each stanza ends with an "ah" cadenza, and each verse's cadenza builds on the one before that.
Recording: Aubrey VonAlmen, mezzo-soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.
I. My Soul is Awakened - poem by Anne Brontë
This song attempts to capture the wonder of nature that Anne was feeling. The end of each stanza ends with an "ah" cadenza, and each verse's cadenza builds on the one before that.
Recording: Aubrey VonAlmen, mezzo-soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.
II. The Sun has Set - poem by Emily Brontë
I had been playing around with this piano part for years before I finally finished this song. It worked well for someone getting distractedly lost in the beauty of a sunset, and her thoughts then drifting off to sea with the setting sun.
Recording: Lindsay Esser, mezzo-soprano. Michael Oberhauser, piano.
I had been playing around with this piano part for years before I finally finished this song. It worked well for someone getting distractedly lost in the beauty of a sunset, and her thoughts then drifting off to sea with the setting sun.
Recording: Lindsay Esser, mezzo-soprano. Michael Oberhauser, piano.
III. The Night - poem by Emily Brontë
The speaker of this poem is at a man's house. It's getting late, and the weather's getting bad. She should leave, but "a tirant's spell has bound" her. The way I see it, she probably doesn't want to leave all that badly.
Recording: Christina Wenning, soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.
The speaker of this poem is at a man's house. It's getting late, and the weather's getting bad. She should leave, but "a tirant's spell has bound" her. The way I see it, she probably doesn't want to leave all that badly.
Recording: Christina Wenning, soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.
IV. If Grief for Grief can Touch Thee - poem by Emily Brontë
I tried to capture the long, slow ache in the piano here. The singer goes between deadened emotions and angst-filled longing.
Recording: Adrienne Peters, mezzo-soprano. Michael Oberhauser, piano.
I tried to capture the long, slow ache in the piano here. The singer goes between deadened emotions and angst-filled longing.
Recording: Adrienne Peters, mezzo-soprano. Michael Oberhauser, piano.
V. 'Tis Moonlight - poem by Emily Brontë
I just wanted something simple and fun to close this set out.
Recording: Alison Engel, mezzo-soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.
I just wanted something simple and fun to close this set out.
Recording: Alison Engel, mezzo-soprano. Jenna Makowski, piano.