The Emily Dickinson Songbook, Vol. I (2001-02)
for high (soprano) and piano
Poems by Emily Dickinson
Music by Virko Baley
Commissioned by Dr. W. Howard Hoffman
1.
Love can do all but raise the Dead
I doubt if even that
From such a giant were withheld
Were flesh equivalent
But love is tired and must sleep,
And hungry and must graze
And so abets the shining Fleet
Till it is out of gaze.
(J1731)
2.
Oh honey of an hour,
I never knew thy power,
Prohibit me
Till my minutest dower,
My unfrequented flower,
Deserving be.
(J1731)
3.
I held a Jewel in my fingers -
And went to sleep -
The day was warm, and winds were prosy -
I said " 'Twill keep" -
I woke - and chid my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone -
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own -
(J245)
4.
There is a solitude of space
A solitude of sea
A solitude of death, but these
Society shall be
Compared with that profounder site
That polar privacy
A soul admitted to itself -
Finite infinity.
(J1695)
5.
Out of sight? What of that?
See the Bird - reach it!
Curve by Curve - Sweep by Sweep -
Round the Steep Air -
Danger! What is that to Her?
Better 'tis to fail - there -
Than debate - here -
Blue is Blue - the World through -
Amber - Amber - Dew - Dew -
Seek - Friend - and see -
Heaven is shy of Earth - that's all -
Bashful Heaven - thy Lovers small -
Hide - too - from thee -
(J703)
6
There is a pain - so utter -
It swallows substance up -
Then covers the Abyss with Trance -
So Memory can step
Around - across - upon it -
As one within a Swoon -
Goes safely - where an open eye -
Would drop Him - Bone by Bone.
(J599)
Program Notes
These six songs are part of a long-term project titled the
"The Emily Dickinson Songbook". The poetry of Emily Dickinson
(December 10, 1830 - May 15, 1886) has become increasingly
important to me over the years. I am particularly struck by
their tonal intricacies and complex juxtaposition of opposed
or perhaps even irreconcilable feelings. After composing a
series of long and structurally complex works (Dreamtime,
Treny I-IV, Symphony No. 1: Sacred Monuments, "A Journey
After Loves") I wanted to write shorter works that would
allow a more direct connection to an emotional center. Each
song is composed around a central musical metaphor, usually
stated in the piano. The vocal line is both part of it and
separate. Because of their essentially strophic nature, I
originally wanted to call the series "urban folk songs".
Commissioned by Dr. W. Howard Hoffman, this series is
open-ended; my only structural precondition is to organize
them in a series of books, each containing six songs. Book 1
was written for the soprano Olga Pasichnyk and is dedicated
to Halyna Hryn.