From One Who Stays
six songs on grief and love
| Composed in: | 1992 |
| Instrumentation: | Medium-low Voice, Flute, Piano |
| Vocal Range: | Ab3-G5 |
| Commissioned by: | Dr. Paul & Dorothy Carlson in loving memory of Charlie Swigart for Pacific Serenades |
| Premiered by: | Paula Rasmussen, mezzo-soprano Mark Carlson, flute David Speltz, cello Antoinette Perry, piano (Songs 1 & 6) Ricky Weiner Gole, mezzo-soprano Mark Carlson, flute Ronald Leonard, cello Antoinette Perry, piano (complete) |
| Publisher: | Pacific Serenades |
Program Notes
It is an old, unresolved argument: does an artistic work reflect the artist's emotional state at the time of its creation? In the case of my song cycle, From One Who Stays, there is no doubt—the work is autobiographical and was composed in the midst of the very emotional events it describes. On October 17, 1990 my closest friend and life-companion of nineteen years, Charlie Swigart, died of malignant melanoma. The pain of losing him is of an intensity that I would never have imagined possible, and the healing of that pain I now recognize to be a life-long process. One step toward that healing was the composition of these songs. The first and last of them were written in 1991 for a Pacific Serenades concert, and at that time I was emotionally unable to do more. The cycle was completed a year later. From One Who Stays was commissioned for Pacific Serenades by my parents, Paul and Dorothy Carlson—for whom Charlie was a son—in his memory.
Media
Kathleen Roland, mezzo-soprano Mark Carlson, flute David Speltz, cello Joanne Pearce Martin, piano