ere we be young again, op. 50
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This high voice cycle from A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson is whimsical and childlike in both the voice and the piano. Sung without pause, this is Baber's most popular song cycle. After simple songs about daily activities, it progresses to three more serious songs about time, joy, and death. It concludes with a touching epilogue to the parent, from which the title is taken.
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SHAKESPEAREAN SONGS, Op. 19
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These songs represent a blending of the spontaneity of Baber's youthful songs with the more craftsman-like style of his college years. The most striking characteristic of this collection is its emotional range. From the melodramatic first song it passes through songs of love, comedy, whimsy, and burlesque, as befits the author. For this reason, these songs make considerable artistic and technical demands of both the singer and the accompanist and have proven to be ideal for college voice instruction.
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range (version for high voice)
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range (version for
medium voice)
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American Songs, op. 12
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Like the Op. 2 songs, these concentrate on Baber's beloved American poets, especially Vachel Lindsay, E. A. Robinson, Sidney Lanier, and, of course, Emily Dickinson. After the pattern-like earlier songs, these represent a flowering of lyrical freedom, as in "The Runner in the Skies." Except for the demands of this lyricism, performers will find these only moderately difficult.
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longfellow songs, op. 2a
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More a collection than a song cycle, these early songs were grouped together by their common author, as were the Emersonian Hymns, Op. 2b. However, both are cycles in the sense that the order of presentation is now fixed. The Longfellow Songs are of medium difficulty for both the singer and the pianist. The two most popular songs are "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls"--probably the most emotionally mature of the collection--and "Snow-flakes," whose choral version was Baber's first published piece.
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Cavalier lyrics, op. 6
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A departure from the exclusively American poets of the other early songs, these Cavalier Lyrics grew out of Baber's exposure to the madrigal style, along with amorous 17th-century poetry, in high school. Shakespeare, who is technically not one of the Cavaliers, is represented by Baber's earliest setting of "Take, O, Take," very much in the Cavalier manner. "The Seas are Quiet," by the more religious Edmund Waller, provides a counterweight to the general tone of the collection.
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SONGS of love and loss, op. 29
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Just as the Emersonian Hymns, Op. 2b are masculine in nature, these songs are clearly intended for the female voice, based as they are on texts by women poets. Although more experimental and idiosyncratic than Baber's earlier songs, they are nonetheless lyrical and dramatic. The songs range in character from the haunting, chant-like quality of Emily Dickinson's "This quiet Dust," to the stormy passion of Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Pity Me Not." Louise Bogan's "Men Loved Wholly Beyond Wisdom" provides a moment of sober reflection between these extremes.
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Emersonian hymns, op. 2b
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Though "To Ellen" is a love poem, most of these songs reflect Emerson's philosophical passions. For that reason, the strong statements of belief embodied in the poems led Baber to call them hymns; in several, the style also is hymn-like. "Terminus," the most popular and mature of the songs, is very declamatory in character, making it, like the others, more suitable, perhaps, for the male voice. "Terminus" also appears in the American Songs, Op. 12.
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dark of the moon, Op. 58
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These nine dramatic songs based on poems by Sara Teasdale treat one of the poet's central themes, the transience of romantic love. Though the songs are not technically difficult, a high degree of musicianship is required for both the soloist and the accompanist, who share equally in the demands of expressing the poet's bitterness.
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shiloh, op. 60
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These four songs for tenor, horn, and piano are taken from the striking Battle Pieces of Herman Melville. Dramatic in nature, as befits the subject, they make considerable demands on all three performers. The first song, "Portents," deals with John Brown and the coming of the war; the turbulent "Misgivings" depicts the conflict itself; the third, "Malvern Hill," reflects the despair of the war's consequences; and the final, title song is like a reflective benediction. This cycle could possibly be sung by a lyric baritone as well. The general shape of Shiloh became the impetus for the later An American Requiem, for full orchestra and chorus.
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three songs from e.e. cummings, op. 77
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A second cycle using horn, high voice, and piano, these songs attempt to capture some of the whimsicality and eccentricity of this otherwise lyrical and profound poet. The first song, "All in green went my love riding," is a wondrous, Renaissance tapestry depicting The Hunt. The second, one of the most famous of cummings' poems, "supposing I dreamed this)" is a dark love song. The playful "in Just-" depicts children splashing in puddles; the whistling mentioned in the poem is actually performed by the singer (or someone offstage) at the end of the song.
Although the vocal part is intermediate to difficult, the piano part requires some dexterity, and the horn part contains some high writing. |
the wild swans at coole, op. 55
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This cycle for high voice and harp outlines the periods of Yeats' life in love, politics, aging, and his affinity for Nature. Though the individual songs are not too difficult for either voice or harp, there is some endurance required to musically sustain ten emotional songs back-to-back. Three songs about aging are the cycle's climax, occurring before Yeats' return to the Isle of Innesfree.
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landscapes
windsongs
Coming soon...
This cycle for soprano and string orchestra (playable by string quartet) was written for Cynthia Lawrence for the opening of the Chandler Hospital Auditorium at the University of Kentucky. The Wind motif, which runs through the songs, takes on a different persona in each of the settings. "Lullaby in Winter," a paraphrase of a poem by Eugene Field, is a mother's reassurance to her child against the winter wind outside. Dickinson's "[The Wind]" reflects whimsically on a gust of wind entering the poet's room. "Hymn to the Sea" is another paraphrase by the composer of a very long poem by the great nature poet, William Cullen Bryant. Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" captures the intoxication of being in love on a breezy ferry ride.
Although the musical demands of this work are considerable, talented college performers might want to take on the challenge.
This cycle for soprano and string orchestra (playable by string quartet) was written for Cynthia Lawrence for the opening of the Chandler Hospital Auditorium at the University of Kentucky. The Wind motif, which runs through the songs, takes on a different persona in each of the settings. "Lullaby in Winter," a paraphrase of a poem by Eugene Field, is a mother's reassurance to her child against the winter wind outside. Dickinson's "[The Wind]" reflects whimsically on a gust of wind entering the poet's room. "Hymn to the Sea" is another paraphrase by the composer of a very long poem by the great nature poet, William Cullen Bryant. Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" captures the intoxication of being in love on a breezy ferry ride.
Although the musical demands of this work are considerable, talented college performers might want to take on the challenge.
"O frabjous day...", Op. 92
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O Frabjous Day!
Seven Songs on Children's Texts (Nonsense and Otherwise) for High Voice, Flute, and Piano Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, and A. E. Housman supply the titular "nonsense" of this cycle, while Christina Rossetti provides the "otherwise." While Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is practically meaningless, Lear's "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" is surreal, and Housman's "As into the garden Elizabeth ran" is, uncharacteristically for this poet, pure farce.
Rossetti's "Who has seen the wind?" and "Boats sail on the river" point out the wonder and delights of everyday things. Her "Take me across the water" is a playful exchange between a little girl and a ferryman, and "Lullaby, O Lullaby" captures the end of the day for a mother and her child. |
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