Elder: When Music Sounds

Description

Commissioned by the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts Singers to celebrate the school's 25th Anniversary and honor the 25 years of service of the founding director, Arlene Graham Sparks

The poem is by Walter de la Mare (April 25th, 1873 - June 22nd, 1956)

"Walter de la Mare's 'Music' is an ode to the transformative effect that music has on those who hear it, and thus this setting seeks to represent not only de la Mare's meditations on the subject but to depict music itself as a present and tangible muse. The obbligato violin takes on this role as it spins phrases in and around the vocal lines, inspiring themes into being. with the choir as narrator and the piano setting a landscape, these three distinct roles interact rhythmically and strive to create a three-dimensional version of de la Mare's text. The balance of these roles varies throughout, taking the listener alternately inside and outside the narrator's mind as he both experiences and contemplates the profound wonder of music."