The Music of Lori Laitman, now available as PDFs
Round and Round — 6 songs for soprano and piano (priced for 2 copies)
SM-000608427
- Composer
- Lori Laitman
-
Lyricist
-
Anne Spencer Lindbergh
- Publisher
- Enchanted Knickers Music
- Genre
-
Classical / Song
- Instrumentation
- Piano, Soprano
- Scored for
- Solo, Accompanying piano
- Type of score
- Piano-vocal score
- Duration
- 10'0"
- Language
- English
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Year of composition
- 2001
Description
Anne Spencer Lindbergh (1940 –1993) wrote several novels and hundreds of poems. “Local Vertical” was published in 2000 and contains 87 of these poems, chosen by her close family members after her untimely death from cancer. Dr. Adelaide Whitaker was delighted to discover these gems while vacationing in Maine in 2000, and immediately commissioned me to create a song cycle. Many of these poems are from a period of unrest and unhappiness in Anne’s life and this sadness is reflected in many of the poems, yet her evident humor and brightness also shine through. The cycle is structured for dramatic contrast. The musical language of “Earlier This Afternoon” evokes the beauty of a warm April day. The upbeat tempo of “Little Plump Person” provides a musical contrast and backdrop of humor. “I Contrived a Poem” is in ABA form, to match the structure and the moods of the poem. The dissonant accompaniment to “Bar the Door” underscores the irony of the poem. The diminished, depressed feelings of the narrator of “Little Anne” are mirrored by the sparse texture and spare melody. Finally, the circular and sing-song quality of both melody and accompaniment in “Round and Round” emphasizes the meaning of the words, as problems spin and repeat without resolution.
You can hear the premiere recording with Jennifer Check and Warren Jones on Spotify — on my CD Within These Spaces.