A Line-Storm Song
Judith Shatin
About this work:
Finding Robert Frost’s poem, A Line-Storm Song, capped months of searching for what felt like the ‘right’ poem to respond to a commission from the Ensemble for These Times, through their Jewish Music and Poetry Project. The commission was co-sponsored by the Jewish Music Commission of Los Angeles, and we are most grateful to them. Soprano Nanette McGuinness and I exchanged many wonderful poems, and yet the muse remained silent. It is a wonderful and rare experience to have text ‘speak’ in a way that engenders sound. I cannot put this into words. Rather, my setting must speak for me. A Line-Storm Songis a love poem, where love has been through a wild storm, and yet persists. In my setting, I have tried to capture something of the wistful, wild, urgent nature of the poem. I dedicate this song to my beloved husbabnd Michael. –JS
Year composed: 2016
Duration: 00:04:45
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Mezzo-Soprano
Instrumentation notes: Mezzo and Piano