Left Behind
Faye-Ellen1 Silverman
About this work:
Last fall, I went to hear a work created by Ann Ellsworth and Jo Williamson called “Left Right”, about Ann’s experiences about being left at home while her husband went to Iraq. The piece was moving, not only due to the subject matter, which has rarely been presented, but also because of the sounds of Ann’s horn playing mixed with Jo’s singing. This led me to create “Left Behind”, a work for the two of them using poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay. This is one continuous work, with an Introductory, wordless song, and the two texts of Edna St. Vincent Millay connected by a horn interlude. The cycle begins with voice alone, and ends with solo horn. The text can refer to those left behind in war, or those left behind by death or merely by the end of a relationship. The feelings are universal.
The work begins with a very simple melody, part way between a lullaby and a lament, hummed by the voice. The horn then takes over this melody, and continues with its own version. Both join together, and then alternate. The beginning of the vocal part of the second song uses the opening motif transposed, inverted and minus the first note. These three notes contain a whole step, then a half step. This motif comes back a few times, and then becomes the descending half step, whole step that ends the horn part. The descending half step – the Baroque symbol for lament – begins the solo horn interlude. The half and whole step motifs are expanded in various ways, and lead into the ending of the interlude. In the third song, the opening of the composition – representing memory – comes back several times. The work ends with a slight variant of the ending of the first song.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Solo Voice with One Non-keyboard Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Horn in F, 1 Mezzo-Soprano