The Music of Lori Laitman, now available as PDFs
Equations of the Light — for soprano, tenor and piano (priced for 3 copies)
SM-000546452
- Composer
- Lori Laitman
-
Lyricist
-
Dana Gioia
- Publisher
- Enchanted Knickers Music
- Genre
-
Classical / Song
- Instrumentation
- Piano, Soprano, Tenor
- Scored for
- Trio
- Type of score
- Piano-vocal score
- Duration
- 4'30"
- Language
- English
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Year of composition
- 2005
Description
Equations of the Light was commissioned in the spring of 2005 by The West Chester University Poetry Conference. Dana Gioia suggested that this particular poem could possibly work well as a duet, with each character having a separate but parallel experience. I have composed both a solo version for high voice, and two duet versions — one for soprano, tenor and piano, and one for soprano, baritone and piano. I found it interesting to create dual characters from the single voice of the poem. With Dana’s permission, the last line of the poem was changed for the duet versions.
The opening, rather noisy, builds up to a sudden stop as the singers discover a “quiet, tree-lined street.” Here the melody and harmony take on a different character, reminiscent of the sounds of an earlier time. As the characters describe the street and their thoughts, their interactions build until they come together in unison, dramatically underscoring their “brief/conjunction of our separate lives.” Sequential patterns in the music mirror that of the text for the next stanza. Then a musical thrust upward (as in the opening) leads to an expressive vocal line (“smile of a stranger”) with “old-fashioned” harmonies and the reuse of the motif for “equations of the light.” This particular musical cell, which has two pitches alternating back and forth, ties together three images — the “strange equations” with the changing light, the wind blowing back and forth (“soft refusals of the summer air”) and the children “trading secrets.”
Dissonance, representing the “traffic bellowing,” dominates before the music comes to a halt as the potential lovers turn the corner. The “haunting” ghost theme is used here as a “turning” image. Sadness prevails, as the two reluctantly return to their separate lives.
You can hear the premiere recording for soprano/tenor/piano on Spotify from my Becoming a Redwood CD.