i thank You God (e.e. cummings)
Martin Hennessy
About this work:
World premiere sung by soprano, Heidi Skok with composer accompanying February 22,1995 in a concert by Positive Music at the Lesbian and Gay Center, New York City.
I encountered the first stanza to I thank You God in a meditation book and wrote it down on a postcard to Heidi Skok when I was on tour in the summer of 1994. Unbeknownst to me, she took a liking to it and kept it in her pocketbook. In September she called me in New York and related a bizarre near-death experience in Venice that summer. When she regained consciousness, the first thing she thought was to find the postcard and read the poem. I quickly searched my library for a volume of Cummings to see what the remaining stanza might be. Over the telephone I read to her: “I who have died am alive again today.”
Available through Classical Vocal Reprints in Four Songs, Volume 1 (CVR3261)
For lower key contact composer.
This song can be found on the Newport Classic compact disc, Women’s Voices (NPD85613) pairing Ned Rorem’s cycle Women’s Voices with Seven Songs of Martin Hennessy.
Version: high voice and piano
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:03:47
Ensemble type: Unknown:unknown 1
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 High Voice