About this work:
Eight songs on poetry by e.e. cummings, these cover the gamut between being whimsical (hist whist), contemplative (i was considering how), romantic (the moon is hiding in her hair), and seasonal, beginning with "hist whist" (Halloween), "little tree" (Christmas), "Tumbling-hair" (summer), and ending with "in Just-spring" (spring).
The soprano should have a flexible voice that can sing either with or without vibrato, and manage a few simple vocal effects, such as speech-singing (sprechtstimme), trills, scooping up and down, and sounding like a small child. These songs, though challenging, are fun and should be sung with joy.
The pianist will need an assistant musician to place a few simple harmless objects on the strings while the pianist is playing. Each piece has specific instructions on performance. Each song has a character all its own, and offers much variety.
The Capstone recording here illustrates the style of these songs, and is a tour-de-force sung by Nancy Hill Elton, and performed by Mark Saya, assisted by John Ferguson.