1. I'm Nobody! Who are you?
2. 'Tis not that Dying hurts us so –
3. Success is counted sweetest
4. Heart! We will forget him!
5. Will there really be a “Morning”?
6. You left me – Sire – two Legacies –
7. To know just how He suffered – would be dear –
8. She died – this was the way she died.
9. I lost a World – the other day!
10. If I should cease to bring a Rose
11. When Roses cease to bloom, Sir,
12. Tie the Strings to my Life, My Lord,
13. New feet within my garden go –
Look at the score
After contemplating the standard orchestral work for my master's thesis, I decided to take my idea of soprano and piano song cycle of Emily Dickinson poems and make it a thesis-sized work. It was written with the wonderful Cleveland-area chamber ensemble, Panorámicos, in mind, which is a force for lush, new music. Their modified Pierrot-ensemble instrumentation made for an interesting challenge, which, like Schoenberg's famous work or Boulez's similar attempt, led me to a structure that changes instrumentation for each song. Each song is linked to the surrounding ones via a short solo or duo by various members of the ensemble.
The structure of the poems creates a two-fold story. After the introductory "I'm Nobody!," songs two through seven morn the loss of man, a lover or husband. "'Tis not that Dying" explores the difficulties of living after a loved-one's death. "Success" contemplates the pain of failure through the image of a man dying on a battlefield just as the battle was won. "Heart!" has the poet and her heart attempting to forget the dead man, and failing. "Morning?" questions the return to everyday life after this loss. "Sire - two Legacies" emancipates the pain and sadness brought on by death. "To know just how He suffered" tenderly questions what was one the man's mind as he died (I read "He" in this poem as Jesus on the cross, whether my music does the same is a different matter). Songs eight through twelve morn the loss of a female, more specifically, I think a daughter. "She died" is as straight-forward as the title implies. "I lost a World" takes the same loss and explores it through the image of the world. I can't help but draw the implication of a lost child, as most children are the world to their parents. "If I should cease" tells the deceased why she would stop visiting her grave. "When Roses cease to bloom, Sir," refers to the speaker impending death. "Tie the Strings to my Life" is the journey of the poet from life to death (following her husband and daughter). "New feet within my garden go -" is a postlude that explores the ambivalence of the continually renewing world. There is a sweet tone to this final poem, but also sadness as the seasons continue beyond her life.
I am very grateful to Harvard University Press for allowing me the opportunity to set Dickinson's poems as edited by Thomas H. Johnson, who returned her poems to their original form.