Four Sonnets(summer 2008) high voice, flute, violin, cello, harp
duration: 13 minutes
I. How heavy do I journey on my way (Sonnet 50; click here for a link to the full text)
II. When I have seen (Sonnet 64; click here for a link to the full text)
III. For restful death I cry (Sonnet 66; click here for a link to the full text)
IV. Then do mine eyes best see (Sonnet 48; click here for a link to the full text)
performed here by Waka Osifchin (s), Sophia Musleh (fl), Solomia Gorokhivska (vln), Soo You (vc), Cara Fleck (hp). right-click here to download mvt. I, here to download mvt. II, here to download mvt. III, and here to download mvt IV (or hold the control key and click).
Four Sonnets may also be performed by a tenor. The third song, For Restful Death I Cry, is sung here by Steven Ebel and NewMusic New York.
Four Sonnets started as a commission for one song from Steven Ebel and New Music New York. The result was the overtly political For Restful Death I Cry (now Mvt. III of the present set). During the summer of 2008, while in residence at the Copland House, I composed the other three movements. The set has a dramatic arc of restless agitation (musica permoveo) that is gradually subsumed in sleep and shadows (musica umbra). I think the choice of these particular sonnets and the overall mood of these songs can be seen as a reflection of my experience living in Worcester, MA during the 2007/2008 academic year. While my move away from Ithaca, NY had to happen and was on one hand a welcome change (the first job!), there were many things that constantly pulled me back (two of the more pressing being an unfinished dissertation and a long distance relationship).
