If Death Is Kind
for soprano and rock band (2013)
instrumentation: soprano, piano, electric guitar, electric bass, drums
If Death Is Kind is a setting of three poems of Sara Teasdale: "Ebb Tide," "Joy," and "Immortal." Thematically, the three poems deal in some way with death and various related emotions such as despair, frustration, and acceptance. The three songs make up a sort of narrative arc: the first poem deals with feelings of loneliness, perhaps at the end of one's life; the second recalls feelings of joy from earlier in life; and the third deals with the uncertainty and ambiguity of the afterlife, and the poet's reflection on the restless nature of the soul after death.
The music takes influence from two sources: the concert tradition and a jazz-rock fusion tradition. The instrumentation calls to mind a jazz combo, and indeed, much of the musical ideas are written idiomatically for such an ensemble. The singer is asked to perform using a tone with minimal vibrato, perhaps similar to a jazz singer. However, the piece's organization of material and structure is intended to move the music into an area not totally dominated by jazz-rock. The overall experience, then, is a synthesis of these two musical arenas, both of which were strong components in my musical upbringing.
If Death Is Kind is a setting of three poems of Sara Teasdale: "Ebb Tide," "Joy," and "Immortal." Thematically, the three poems deal in some way with death and various related emotions such as despair, frustration, and acceptance. The three songs make up a sort of narrative arc: the first poem deals with feelings of loneliness, perhaps at the end of one's life; the second recalls feelings of joy from earlier in life; and the third deals with the uncertainty and ambiguity of the afterlife, and the poet's reflection on the restless nature of the soul after death.
The music takes influence from two sources: the concert tradition and a jazz-rock fusion tradition. The instrumentation calls to mind a jazz combo, and indeed, much of the musical ideas are written idiomatically for such an ensemble. The singer is asked to perform using a tone with minimal vibrato, perhaps similar to a jazz singer. However, the piece's organization of material and structure is intended to move the music into an area not totally dominated by jazz-rock. The overall experience, then, is a synthesis of these two musical arenas, both of which were strong components in my musical upbringing.
Performance: Autumn Allee, soprano; Natalie Rahn, piano; Brandon Coleman, electric guitar; Michael Montgomery, electric bass; Kyle McCoy, drums
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