My Terrible Cap
Theodore Wiprud
About this work:
My Terrible Cap is a set of six songs on poetry of Harold Pinter, the great English playwright. These are the first authorized settings of his words in any form. I composed them over a period of several years, principally while in England and in correspondence with the author. The emotional range is large; the writing spare; the idiom rhythmic and playful; the overall mood dark. Pinter's trademark pauses emerge especially in the song "Later"; his dark humor in "The Doing So"; his capacity for tenderness in "Always Where You Are"; his unblinking existentialism in "I Know the Place," "All of That," and the final, madcap "I'll Tear Off My Terrible Cap." It is a virtuoso cycle requiring a tenor of tremendous range and strength. Various songs were written with different tenors in mind, but the remarkable Thom Baker gave the premiere of the complete set in 2001.
Year composed: 1990
Duration: 00:20:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Solo Voice with Keyboard
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Tenor
Instrumentation notes: six songs for high tenor