A Touch of Cold
Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano or baritone, flute (piccolo), clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion
Duration: ca. 17:00
Premiere: May 23, 2019 | Evan Snyder, voice; Sydney Robinson, flute; Ben Baldwin, clarinet; Daniela Diaz, violin; Mary Sherman, cello; Ryan H. Jones, piano; Trevor Smith, percussion | Cook Recital Hall, East Lansing, MI
For purchasing information, please contact Ryan.
Texts:
Autumn (1908)
A touch of cold in the Autumn night—
I walked abroad,
And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge
Like a red-faced farmer.
I did not stop to speak, but nodded,
And round about were the wistful stars
With white faces like town children.
- T. E. Hulme (1883-1917)
[The grass is beneath my head] (1917)
The grass is beneath my head;
and I gaze
at the thronging stars
in the night.
They fall… they fall…
I am overwhelmed,
and afraid.
Each leaf of the aspen
is caressed by the wind,
and each is crying.
And the perfume
of invisible roses
deepens the anguish.
Let a strong mesh of roots
feed the crimson of roses
upon my heart;
and then fold over the hollow
where all the pain was.
- F. S. Flint (1885-1960)