and leap into the ripe air
Betsy L. Schramm, Ph.D.
About this work:
Premiered May 8, 1998
Miller Theatre, New York City
New Millenium Ensemble, Mary Nessinger, soprano.
I. the hills like poets
II. the silver of the moon
III. in the rain-darkness
Program Notes
I was drawn to these three e.e. cummings poems because of the rich, lucid imagery, the subtle shades of emotive coloring, and the oblique and simultaneously direct way in which they speak of love and death. Each poem's narrative teems with the living of life and love, light, and their counterparts - death, loss and darkness. cummings' unique rhythmic sense is present in each poem - a cascading of syllables, words and phrases that present an ever-changing cadence.
The music came out of the poems, the vocal lines born directly of these singing phrases. The instrumental interludes evolved to either directly reflect the vocal part or to tangentially infer it. The setting is a feast of color and rhythm - attempting to capture the blinding-light beauty of cummings poems, a journey for the listener and musician into a joining of these poems with music. and leap into the ripe air was written for Mary Nessinger and the New Millennium Ensemble with a grant from the Rose Brack Fund.
Year composed: 1996
Duration: 00:20:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble, 6-9 Players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Cello, 1 Mezzo-Soprano