The Nature Of Things Song Cycle

The “Nature of Things” is a collection of songs meant to be thought of as a song cycle. It is a group of 16 individually complete songs designed to be performed in sequence as an unabridged unit. And having said this, each song is considered as equally a little microcosm of its own and can be performed independently if so desired. The combination of piano and soprano solo is such a beautifully concise incarnation of orchestration. A song’s curious brevity is engaging. It can be so simple and yet so sublime. It seems all too easy. And yet, it took seven months to write this song cycle. Some type of coherence is considered a necessary attribute of song cycles. About this, if I may quote Carol Vanhoff the author of the texts: “These poems share ideas about our juxtaposition with the natural world on this living planet. I like to extract the humor and wisdom from the nature of things I see—human and otherwise. Throughout, the poems speak of human life and death in quickly passing time. I use nature to point out human qualities—awareness of life and death, longing and fulfillment, ego and humility. In my poems, clouds teach and talk to us, flowers display the possibility of will, freedom and dignity to us, dying leaves demonstrate love, acceptance, graciousness. Hopefully, as a collection, they sharpen our awareness and appreciation for simply being alive at this time on this beautiful planet.” It is the responsibility, the pursuit and craft of the composer to marry or join together the music to the texts. It is also the responsibility of the composer to turn a straightforward song into an art song. Sometimes big ideas come in little packages. The full score is in A4 format.