a love like t hat - seafarer press · her first book-length poetry collection, orioling, received...

Elizabeth Alexander

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A Love Like T hatCollected Songs

medium voice and piano

Cover Art: “Ancient Sun” by Margaret Storer-Roche.

Used by permission of the artist. All rights reserved.

A Love Like T hat

Collected Songs of Elizabeth Alexander

About These Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Sleep Song (Ann Silbee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

~ Musings on the nature of a sleeping child ~

The Eternal One (Ralph Waldo Emerson, adapted by Elizabeth Alexander) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

~ A tender portrait of a divine presence, both infinite and intimate ~

A Love Like That (Sufi poet Hafiz, rendered by Daniel Landinsky) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

~ A tender ballad of unconditional love ~

The Gospel Isn’t Written in the Bible Alone (Elizabeth Alexander) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

~ An expansive embrace of the sacredness of all creation ~

I’ll Tell You a Story, then... (Nancy White) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

~ A pensive journey of discovery, about what it means to be fully human ~

Growing up in the Carolinas and Appalachian Ohio, Elizabeth Alexander gained her love of language

and music from her parents, a minister and a piano teacher. These twin passions are reflected in her

catalogue of over 100 choral and vocal pieces, which have received over 20 national and international

awards, and been performed by over 1000 choirs.

Reviewers have commented on “the close personal resonance between the composer and the words,” her

music’s “delicacy and sincerity,” and its “elegance, subtle unexpected harmonic turns, and...freshness

within a well-known language.” Her wide-ranging compositional influences include classical, folk,

atonality, Latin and classic jazz, and gospel.

A 2011 McKnight Fellow, she has received awards and fellowships from

the Jerome Foundation, New York Council on the Arts, Wisconsin Arts

Board, National Orchestral Association, International League of Women

Composers, and American Composers Forum. Her composition teachers

have included Jack Gallagher at The College of Wooster, and Steven

Stucky, Yehudi Wyner and Karel Husa at Cornell University, from which

she received her doctorate in music composition.

Other performers of her music have included orchestras such as

Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra and

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; chamber ensembles North/South

Consonance, Society for New Music, and Sounds New; and singers Ruth

MacKenzie, Bradley Greenwald, Christina Baldwin, Janet Youngdahl,

Andrea Cawelti, David Gagnon, Libby Turner-Opanga, Linda Larson and

Cheryl Coker.

Elizabeth lives in St. Paul, MN, where her frequent commissions include works for orchestra, chorus,

chamber ensembles and solo musicians. She reads voraciously, shamelessly encourages her teenagers’

jokes, makes pretty good biscuits, and tends her garden during the three month period in Minnesota that

is not winter.

She believes she has the best job in the world.

44

Sleep Song

What I love is to slip late at night

into David’s room gaze secretly

down at the soft mask of sleep twitching

with no flush of rage no pout no glee

just the passing in and out of breath

delicately stirring his body

into a hint of motion by which

I know David is living within

safe to love with my whole watching self

Ann Silsbee

© 2002 by Ann L. Silsbee From Naming the Disappeared, published by Vista Periodista, Ithaca, NY

Reprinted by permission of Robert Silsbee

Poet, pianist and composer Ann Silsbee was the first woman to

receive her doctoral degree in music composition from Cornell

University. Her output included over fifty works for solo,

chamber, orchestral and operatic forces.

Silsbee devoted her later creative years to poetry, publishing in

many publications, including the Seneca Review, Atlanta Review

and Spoon River Poetry Review, as well as in the chapbook,

Naming The Disappeared. Her first book-length poetry

collection, Orioling, received the Benjamin Saltman Poetry

Award. The book was published by Red Hen Press in August

2003, shortly before a recurrence of cancer brought upon her

death. Later that year, Ann’s second book, The Book of Ga, was

published by CustomWords.

Ann and Elizabeth shared many lunches, walks and conversations during the decade they shared

in Ithaca, NY.

55

The Eternal One

Lyric distilled from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “The Over-soul”

It comes to the lowly,

It comes to the simple,

It comes to whomever will put off what is foreign or proud.

It comes as insight,

It comes as serenity,

It comes as grandeur.

Within us the soul of the whole,

Within us the wise silence,

Within us the universal beauty

To which every part and particle is equally related:

The Eternal ONE.

When it breathes through our intellect, it is genius.

When it breathes through our will, it is virtue.

When it flows through our affection, it is love.

Forever and ever, forever and ever,

There is no ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens.

Within us the soul of the whole,

Within us the wise silence,

Within us the universal beauty:

The Eternal ONE.

Adapted lyric copyright 2010 by Elizabeth Alexander. All rights reserved.

Composer Note: When it comes to setting a text to music, there is a composers’ “Code of Honor”: A writer’s words are

never to be altered lightly, and only when absolutely necessary. This has been my practice for over 25 years, during

which time I’ve composed over 100 songs.

Enter Emerson. For the same 25 years, I’ve tried to understand his writings — but this is no easy task. His essays are

exuberant, dynamic, dense and intense, bombarding the senses with metaphor upon metaphor. I was left gasping for air

— in part because Emerson wanted his readers to feel this way, overwhelmed by the force of the divine. So I was

surprised when I came across a short excerpt from his seminal essay “The Over-soul” which I found direct and

approachable. In this essay, Emerson describes an ecstatic, all-encompassing God which permeates every aspect of

creation. Excited, I dove right in and set these words to music.

Should I have been surprised to discover a few weeks later that the excerpt was significantly different from the original?

In retrospect, not at all! I am well aware that present day reformers frequently alter historic writings, imposing all

manner of modern “improvements.” But I didn’t want to improve on Emerson; I wanted to set his actual words to music!

I went back to the song, correcting words and rewriting music. But there was one part of the altered writing which I

simply could not bring myself to correct. In an attempt to render Emerson’s writing “gender neutral,” all references to

“man” (third person plural) were changed to “we” (first person plural). I realized with dismay that my song had been

composed with a warm “we” at its core, intimately embracing our mutual experience of the divine.

My decision to leave “The Eternal One” in first person plural was a selfish one. I didn’t do so because I believed it was

an improvement on Emerson, nor because I believe in the sanctity of gender neutral language. I did so because

describing the Over-soul in this intimate, collective voice gave me a window into understanding God in yet another

wonderful way — as a presence endowed with infinite benevolence, beauty, and unity with all beings. And I found that

understanding to be breathtakingly beautiful. Unapologetically yours,

66

The Sun Never Says

Even

After

All this time

The sun never says to the earth,

“You owe

Me.”

Look

What happens

With a love like that,

It lights the

Whole

Sky.

Hafiz

translated and adapted by Daniel Ladinsky

From the Penguin publication, “The Gift: Poems by Hafiz,”

copyright 1999 by Daniel Ladinsky.

Used by permission of Daniel Ladinsky.

Composer’s Note: As a scholar, I am inclined to carefully scrutinize the texts I set to music, making

sure they are authentic, accurate and properly attributed. Years of university training lead me to research

sources, question assertions, and take great care with facts.

However, as a composer, my behavior is more apt to resemble that of an eager lover or bright-eyed

magpie. I say this with neither pride nor shame, but instead with self-knowledge, for artists are well

known to love shiny things: beauty, delight, patterns, color, intoxicating sounds, musical turns of phrase,

and ideas which open the mind and heart.

It was with both minds that I approached the lyrical and engaging work of poet Daniel Ladinsky. Neither

a purist nor an academic, Ladinsky’s popular Hafiz-inspired renderings have inspired passionate debate

among poetry lovers, Sufi scholars, and Farsi speakers, all trying to ascertain to what extent these poems

are translations, as opposed to original poems.

For this reason, I waited a long time before setting a Hafiz/Ladinsky poem to music — but in the end, the

magpie in me won out. Spontaneous gratitude knows no restraint: I composed this song as a simple

offering to the power of limitless generosity, in honor of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.

77

The Gospel Isn’t Written in the Bible Alone

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars.”

Anonymous, erroneously attributed to Martin Luther

The Gospel is written in the trees and flowers, it’s written in the wind and the rain,

Recorded in the rock and sediment and sand.

It’s written in the glory of the far-off sun, and also in the very near,

Inscribed upon the palm of every open hand.

You can hear it in the thunder, you can read it in the stars,

You can find it under every leaf and stone.

On a page wide as a prairie there’s a message large as life:

The Gospel isn’t written in the Bible alone.

The Gospel is painted onto fins and scales, it’s ruffled into feathers and fur,

It’s spun into the seashell’s deep and sacred scroll.

Behold it in the voices of the birds at dawn, composers of the Song of Songs,

Discern it in the Acts of every living soul.

Every pebble holds a Proverb, every spider spins a Psalm,

Every seed’s a Resurrection of its own.


The Gospel isn’t written in the Bible alone.

Imagine now, if you were God

Setting forth the Gospel for all you’re worth,

Why would you settle for a single book

When you could write the Gospel on the whole wide Earth?

The Gospel is moving over darkened seas, it’s working in the change and the flow,

It’s written in a tongue we long to understand.

We marvel at the beauty of the poetry encoded in the chromosome,

And braided through the length of every twisted strand.

It is molded into muscle, it is whispered into breath,

It is carved into the curve of every bone.


The Gospel may be written in the Bible —

But it surely isn’t written in the Bible alone.

Lyric copyright 2009 by Elizabeth Alexander. All rights reserved.

Composer Note: The quote which inspired this song, “God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and

flowers, and clouds, and stars,” was attributed to Martin Luther as early as the 1950s, when it was published in an

anthology of religious quotations. In the decades since then, the quote has appeared in sermons, devotional manuals and

gardening books; on greeting cards, posters and T-shirts; and on thousands of websites.

Bruce Eldevik, reference librarian at Luther College, graciously searched Martin Luther’s complete writings at my

request. He concluded that it was highly unlikely that Luther was the source of this quote.1

As someone with a longtime fascination with Luther, I was a little disappointed by Eldevik’s findings. Still, that didn’t

keep me from using this anonymous quote as the inspiration for this song.________________

1 It is possible that a quote from Luther’s book Table Talk fueled this longtime misattribution, given its similarly democratic sentiment:

“The gospel belongs to the poor and sorrowful, and not to princes and courtiers who live in continual joy and delight, in security, void

of all tribulations.”

88

Just Once I Want To Write a Gentle Thing

I’ll tell you a story, then,

of how as I was walking, I smelled something sugary,

elusive, spicy, you could call it,

and smoky in a sad sort of way. Also

like blossom barely born, pale and half-undone

to the wind that still might even be carrying snow,

this scent I decided to follow.

Sometimes I stumbled on the path, silver

with stones worn smooth as kindness,

or had to stop and rest among pines

where the smell settled a little, at home

with their religious and sensuous twang. Other times,

I moved fast, snatching at its mulchy sweet threads

through the air, the leaf and rotten-meat ribbons of scent,

rough tongues of tigers who have recently feasted, the living decay

of happiness, and saddle soap, the lemon urgency of sex,

honey of the air — where did it come from?

I rose panting up the slope, muscles strung on the searching

bow of my body, raised the back of my hand

to wipe away the sweat

salting my lips

and realized the smell —

the smell is me.

Nancy White

From “Sun, Moon, Salt,” published by The Word Works

© 1992 by Nancy White. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Nancy White’s first book, Sun, Moon, Salt, won the Washington Prize for poetry and a

second edition was issued by The Word Works in 2009. Tamarack Editions published

her second collection of poems, Detour, in the spring of 2010. Her poems have also

appeared such journals as the Antioch Review, Black Warrior Review, Cincinnati

Review, Diner, FIELD, The Journal, Massachusetts Review, Nimrod, Poet Lore, Rattle,

Seneca Review, Sojourners, and Washington Square.

She has received grants and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Provincetown

Fine Arts Work Center, and Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. Before settling

in upstate New York, she taught at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn and Bennington College; she now teaches at

Adirondack Community College, where the students are plentiful and the surprises never cease.

Composer Note: If one of the purposes of art is to help us embrace life in the fullest way possible, then Nancy White’s

warm and earthy poem succeeds on every level. As I set her words to music, I revisited them day after day, mining them

for their deepest qualities. My “mission,” as I thought of it, was to bring tenderness and visceralness to each individual

strand of this poem’s mysterious “scent.” What a nourishing process that was for me!

A final, telling detail. White’s poem goes by a different title than my song — her title hints at the suffering created

whenever we reject parts of our deepest human nature: “Just Once I Want to Write a Gentle Thing.”

99

( q = 96) Gently rocking

Elizabeth Alexander

In memory of Ann: Poet, composer, mother and friend

copyright 2004 by Elizabeth Alexander

Ann Silsbeefor medium voice and piano

Sleep Song

5

9

13

p

What

p

I

love,

What I love,

Seafarer PressSEA-061-01

1010

17

21

25

29

senza misura

What I

love is to slip late at night

mp

in to-

Da vid’s- room,

playfully

mp

What

p warmly, sung all to yourself

I love

1111

a tempo32

36

39

43

47

is to

p

gaze se cret- ly- down, se cret- ly,- se

pp

cret- ly-

down,

pp murmuring

down

p

at the

soft mask of sleep

gentle marcato

1212

51

55

59

63

67

twitch ing- with no flush of

rage,

mf

twitch ing- with

mf espress.

no pout, no

glee,

f (but with lightness)

f

just

mp

the

mp

1313

71

75

79

83

pass ing- in and

out of breath, just the

pass inging- in and

mf

out of breath,

1414

87

91

95

99 rallentando

de

p

li- cate- ly- stir ring,-

p

stir ring,-

stir ring- his bod y-

(poco crescendo)

in -

to

mp

a hint of mo tion,- - - - - -

1515

Opal Palmer Adisa, poet B Margaret & George Alexander, parents B Yehuda Amichai, poet B Bjorn Arneson, generous

web designer B Scott Bates, poet B Abbie Betinis, composer/colleague B Dennis Blubaugh, music dealer B Michael

deVernon Boblett, poet B Ray Bradbury, writer B Norbert Capek, visionary B e. e. cummings, poet B Philip Dacey,

poet B Emily Dickinson, poet B Evelyn Dudley, poet B Rob Eller-Isaacs, minister/writer B Sophia Lyon Fahs, writer

B Richard M. Fewkes, writer B Pesha Gertler, poet B Richard S. Gilbert, minister/writer B Jack Gallagher,

composer/teacher B Paul Gerike, proofreader B Steve Harper, technical advisor B Steve Hawkins, generous web

designer B Edie Hill, composer/colleague B Langston Hughes, poet B Mark Humphrey, piano technician B Karel Husa,

composer/teacher B Kalidasa, poet B Garrison Keillor, storyteller B Denise Levertov, poet B George Ella Lyon, poet

B Jonathan Machen, artist B Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet B J. David Moore, composer/colleague B Joan Wolf

Prefontaine, poet B Gerald Rich, poet B Carl Sandburg, poet B King Sigismund III, religious reformer B Steven

Stucky, composer/teacher B Rabindranath Tagore, poet B Howard Thurman, civil rights leader/writer B John

Greenleaf Whittier, poet B Theodore Chickering Williams, poet B Daniel Winter, pianist/teacher B Nancy Wood,

poet B Yehudi Wyner, composer/teacher B Paul Adams, technical advisor B Opal Palmer Adisa, poet B Margaret &

George Alexander, parents B Yehuda Amichai, poet B Bjorn Arneson, generous web designer B Scott Bates, poet B

Abbie Betinis, composer/colleague B Dennis Blubaugh, music dealer B Michael deVernon Boblett, poet B Ray

Bradbury, writer B Norbert Capek, visionary B e. e. cummings, poet B Philip Dacey, poet B Emily Dickinson, poet

B Evelyn Dudley, poet B Rob Eller-Isaacs, minister/writer B Sophia Lyon Fahs, writer B Richard M. Fewkes, writer

B Pesha Gertler, poet B Richard S. Gilbert, minister/writer B Jack Gallagher, composer/teacher B Paul Gerike,

proofreader B Steve Harper, technical advisor B Steve Hawkins, generous web designer B Edie Hill,

composer/colleague B Langston Hughes, poet B Mark Humphrey, piano technician B Karel Husa, composer/teacher

B Kalidasa, poet B Garrison Keillor, storyteller B Denise Levertov, poet B George Ella Lyon, poet B Jonathan Machen,

artist B Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet B J. David Moore, composer/colleague B Joan Wolf Prefontaine, poet B Gerald

Rich, poet B Carl Sandburg, poet B King Sigismund III, religious reformer B Steven Stucky, composer/teacher B

Rabindranath Tagore, poet B Howard Thurman, civil rights leader/writer B John Greenleaf Whittier, poet B

Theodore Chickering Williams, poet B Daniel Winter, pianist/teacher B Nancy Wood, poet B Yehudi Wyner,

composer/teacher B Paul Adams, technical advisor B Opal Palmer Adisa, poet B Margaret & George Alexander, parents

B Yehuda Amichai, poet B Bjorn Arneson, generous web designer B Scott Bates, poet B Abbie Betinis,

composer/colleague B Dennis Blubaugh, music dealer B Michael deVernon Boblett, poet B Ray Bradbury, writer B

Norbert Capek, visionary B e. e. cummings, poet B Philip Dacey, poet B Emily Dickinson, poet B Evelyn Dudley, poet

B Rob Eller-Isaacs, minister/writer B Sophia Lyon Fahs, writer B Richard M. Fewkes, writer B Pesha Gertler, poet

B Richard S. Gilbert, minister/writer B Jack Gallagher, composer/teacher B Paul Gerike, proofreader B Steve Harper,

technical advisor B Steve Hawkins, generous web designer B Edie Hill, composer/colleague B Langston Hughes, poet

B Mark Humphrey, piano technician B Karel Husa, composer/teacher B Kalidasa, poet B Garrison Keillor, storyteller

B Denise Levertov, poet B George Ella Lyon, poet B Jonathan Machen, artist B Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet B J.

David Moore, composer/colleague B Joan Wolf Prefontaine, poet B Gerald Rich, poet B Carl Sandburg, poet B King

THIS PAGE HAS BEEN INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

(YOU KNOW WHY.)

A COMPLETE PERUSAL COPY MAY BE PURCHASED

FROM ELIZABETH ALEXANDER AT

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A LOT OF HARD WORK &CREATIVITY

WENT INTO BRINGING

THIS MUSIC TO YOU...

...AND SOME OF IT

WAS EVEN MINE.

126

130

136

Safe to love with my

whole watch ing- self

p

p

pp

1717

© 2010 by Elizabeth Alexander. All rights reserved.

Please do not photocopy this music. Composing is my livelihood.

It

p

comes to the

(q = 60-63)

bell-like

p

low ly,- It comes to the sim ple,- It comes to whom ever- will put off what is

5

for eign- or proud. It comes as in sight,**- It comes as ser -

poco rit. a tempo8

magicalpoco rit. a tempo

3

Ralph Waldo Emerson,

Adapted from “The Oversoul”

The Eternal One

Dedicated to Kerri Meyer and Jennifer Blecha, in celebration of their marriage

Elizabeth Alexander

for medium voice and piano

(See note about pedal markings, below.*)

3 3

3

3 3

3

* Pedal changes vary with instrument, performance space and personal preference. It is hoped that these pedal markings willgive the player a general impression of the desired effect.

** Yes, this is an eighth note. In general, the exact length of the final notes of phrases in this piece are not sacred. But here I'dlike a short note value, with a gentle, mindful cutoff. -E.A.


1818

in i- ty,- It comes as gran

mf

deur,- With

p

in- us the

10

mf p

soul of the whole, With in- us the wise, wise

13

si lence,- With in- us the u ni- ver- sal- beau

mp

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mp

ev’ ry- part and par ti- cle- is e qual- ly- re la- ted:- the

with ecstasy

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19

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3 3 3

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3

3 3

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m.d.

5

1919

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p

it

23

(mp )

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breathes through our in tel- lect,*- it is gen

mp

ius.-

25

mp

When it breathes through our will, it is

27

vir

mf

tue.- When it

29

mf

2

4 1

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6 6

66

* Yes, another mindful eighth note cutoff. ** These three left hand notes are a warm French horn line.

**

2020

flows through our af fec- tion,- it is love, it is

31

love, it

mp

is love, it is

33

delicately

mp

love, for

mf

ever- and

poco rallentando35

poco rallentando

ev er,- for ever- and ev er.- There is no

a tempo37

a tempo

mf

3

1

3

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2121





































(YOU KNOW WHY.)





WENT INTO BRINGING


...AND SOME OF IT

WAS EVEN MINE.



(q = -108 116) With gentleness

p

5

E

p warmly

ven- af ter- all this time, e ven- af ter- all this time, e ven- af ter-

9

all this time,

13

Seafarer Press

SEA-094-01

E ven- af ter- all this time, the sun nev er- says to the earth,

17

A Love Like ThatHafiz, as rendered by Daniel Ladinsky


For Margaret and George Alexander, after all this time.

Elizabeth Alexander

3

3

2323

the sun nev er- says to the

21

earth, "You owe me,"

26

E

mp with even more warmth

ven- af ter- all, af ter- all this

32

mp

time, all this time, E -

36

ven- af ter- all this time, the sun nev er- says to the

40

,

3

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earth, the

43

sun nev er- says to the earth, "You

47

owe me,"

51

E

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ven- af - ter all this time,

55

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59

3

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Look what hap pens- with a love like that,

Brightly, più mosso63


67


71

legatissimo

However, you may count yourself fortunate, if you wish.

No counting, accounting, discounting or calling to account, from here to the end of the piece.

It

p expansively

lights the whole sky,

Senza Misura - very freely

75

p

From here on, hold notes as long as you feel radiant.

75

6

5

6

5

6

Repeat this and subsequent ascending scales an indefinite number of times, colla voce

5

6

Depending on the piano and performance space, use of una corda pedal may be effective.

2626





































(YOU KNOW WHY.)





WENT INTO BRINGING


...AND SOME OF IT

WAS EVEN MINE.

Seafarer Press

SEA-082-02



EbEbEbEb Ab/EbAb/EbAb/EbAb/Eb Db/EbDb/EbDb/EbDb/Eb Absus4/EbAbsus4/EbAbsus4/EbAbsus4/Eb Ab/EbAb/EbAb/EbAb/Eb

(h=69-72) With awe

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13

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars.”

Anonymous, often attributed (erroneously) to Martin Luther

The Gospel Isn't Written In the Bible Alonefor medium/high voice and piano

Elizabeth Alexander

2828

hold

mar

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some,

near,

Ab69/CAb69/CAb69/CAb69/C

-

dis

(and)

in

-

-

17

cern

braid

scribed


- it

up

ed-

in

on

through

-

the

the

the

Acts

palm

length

of

of

of

ev’

ev’

ev’

ry

ry

ry

-

-

-

twist

liv

o

ing

ed

pen

-

-

-

soul.

strand.

hand.

Eb/DbEb/DbEb/DbEb/Db DbDbDbDb Eb/DbEb/DbEb/DbEb/Db DbDbDbDb Eb/DbEb/DbEb/DbEb/Db DbDbDbDb Eb/DbEb/DbEb/DbEb/Db21

It

Ev’

You

is

ry

can

- peb

hear

mold


ble

it

ed

-

-

holds

in

in

the

to

a

- mus

Pro

thun


der,

cle,

verb,

-

-

-

ev’

you

it

ry

can

is

- spi

read

whis


der

it

pered

-

-

spins

in

in

a

the

to-

Psalm,

stars,

breath,


ev’

you

it

ry

can

is

-

26

seed's

find

carved

Ab9Ab9Ab9Ab9

a

it

in

Re

un

to-

- sur

der

the

-

rec

ev’

curve

-

Eb/GEb/GEb/GEb/G

tion

ry

of

-

-

of

leaf

ev’

its

and

ry-

own.

stone.

bone.

Gb9Gb9Gb9Gb9 Db9/FDb9/FDb9/FDb9/F

On

On

On

a

a

a

31

2929

page

Eb/GEb/GEb/GEb/G

wide as a prai

Ab69Ab69Ab69Ab69

rie- there's a mes


sage- large as life:

Cm79Cm79Cm79Cm7935

The Gos

AbM79AbM79AbM79AbM79

pel- is n't- writ ten- in the Bi ble-

Bb79sus4Bb79sus4Bb79sus4Bb79sus4

a -

40

lone.

EbEbEbEb Db69Db69Db69Db69 EbEbEbEb Db69Db69Db69Db691.

46

Eb/BbEb/BbEb/BbEb/Bb Ab/CAb/CAb/CAb/C Eb/DbEb/DbEb/DbEb/Db Db69Db69Db69Db69

The

50

To Coda Ø

3

3030

lone.

EbEbEbEb Db69Db69Db69Db69 EbEbEbEb Db69Db69Db69Db692.54

BM79BM79BM79BM79 EM79EM79EM79EM79 D%D%D%D%58

C69C69C69C69

Im -

61

a

Bm79Bm79Bm79Bm79

- gine- now, if you were God.

65

Set

C7(#11)C7(#11)C7(#11)C7(#11)

ting- forth the Gos pel- for all you're worth.

69

3

12

3131

Bm79Bm79Bm79Bm79

Why would you set tle- for a sin gle- book, when

73

you

C7(#11)C7(#11)C7(#11)C7(#11)

could write the Gos

BbM7BbM7BbM7BbM7

pel- on the whole

AbM7AbM7AbM7AbM7

wide Earth?

G¨69G¨69G¨69G¨6977

E6E6E6E6 DbM69DbM69DbM69DbM6981

AM7(#11)AM7(#11)AM7(#11)AM7(#11) B69B69B69B69 Db69(#11)Db69(#11)Db69(#11)Db69(#11)

The

85

3

D.S. al Coda

3232





































(YOU KNOW WHY.)





WENT INTO BRINGING


...AND SOME OF IT

WAS EVEN MINE.

Nancy White

(q. = 68-72)

for Ruth MacKenzie


I’ll Tell You a Story, then...

© 2005 by Elizabeth Alexander

Elizabeth Alexander

7

12

17

21

p

I'll

p

tell you a sto ry,- then. of how I was

walk ing,- how as I was

walk ing- I smelled some thing,- some thing-


34

25

30

36

41poco. rit.

su gar- y,-

e lu- sive,-

spi cy,- you could call it, and smo ky-

in a sad sort of way.

ad lib.

mm

35

pushing forward slightly

45

49

53

58

Al

mp

so- like blos som- bare ly-

born, Pale and half un done- to the

wind that still might e ven- be car ry- ing- snow,

ad lib.

ten.

car ry- ing- snow. O

ad lib.

ten.

36

63

67

72

77

This

mf boldly, with greater urgency

scent

I

de

-

ci ded- to fol low,- this

p expectantly

scent I de ci- ded- to

fol low.-

some

mp

times- I stum bled- up on- the path, sil ver- with

mp

37

81

87

92meno mosso

97senza misura

freely

stones worn smooth as kind ness- -

clear (like echoing drops of water)

murmuring

or

mf

had to stop and rest a mong- pines,

mf

I

p

had to rest a mong- pines

ten. ,

wherethe smell set tled- a lit tle,-

ten. ,

at

pp

p

home with their re li- gious-

,

and sen su- - - - ous-

38

tempo meno mosso99 accel. poco a poco

accel. poco a poco

104 (q. = 80)

108

112

twang.

cleanly, like bells

pp

Oth

mf

er-

mf

times, I moved fast, snatch ing- at its mul chy- smooth

sfz sfz

threads through the air, the

sfz sfz

39





































(YOU KNOW WHY.)





WENT INTO BRINGING


...AND SOME OF IT

WAS EVEN MINE.

134

senza misura, freely meno mosso

138

a tempo140

143

ur gen- cy- of sex, hon ey- in the air.

Where

f with great intensity

did it come from? Where

mp thoughtfully, determined

did it come from?

with great intensity

p very gently

I

mp with intensity

rose pant ing- up the slope,

p

mus cles- strung on the search ing- bow of my bod y,-

41

147

senza misura - very freely150

Meno mosso

Piano maintains the feeling of 6/8151

raised

mf

the back of my hand to wipe a way- the

mf

sweat salt

thoughtfully

ing- my lips,

,

mm

p warmly

,

and re a- lized,

-

,

and

mp

re a- lized,

-

,

colla voce

p

42

154

156

159

162

and

p

re a- lized

-

,

the smell is me.

mm

introspectively, warmly mm

the smell is me,

,

mm

deliciously

mm

p

me.

43

Songs of Elizabeth Alexander

* The Eternal One (Ralph Waldo Emerson, adapted) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-093-00

Die Gedanken Sind Frei (16th c. German protest song, arr.) [duet] alto, baritone, piano . . . . SEA-087-01

A Garret of Old Playthings (Carl Sandburg) soprano and piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-028-00

I Write This Poem Out of Darkness (George Ella Lyon) SSA trio, flute, violin, piano . . . . . SEA-024-01

* A Love Like That (Hafiz, translated/adapted by Daniel Ladinsky) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-094-00

* I’ll Tell You a Story, then... (Nancy White) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-069-00

Jó! (The Edict of Torda) SSA trio or ensemble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-092-00

My Aunt Gives Me a Clarinet Lesson (Gregory Djanikian)

soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-053-00

No One Gets a Program (Riff on a Dutch proverb) [duet] low voice, medium voice, piano . SEA-095-07

* Oath Taking (Opal Palmer Adisa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-073-00

On the Edge of the Water (E. Alexander) low voice, piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-083-00

So Many Corners (Rose Ausländer) soprano, piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-040-00

So Many Corners (Rose Ausländer) soprano, chamber orchestra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-040-01

* Sleep Song (Ann Silsbee) soprano, piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-061-00

* The Gospel Isn’t Written In the Bible Alone (E. Alexander) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-082-00

Three Rose Auslander Songs (R. Ausländer) soprano, strings, percussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-040-05

Trouble in a Minnesota Town (Neal Bowers) baritone, piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEA-047-00

* Titles without specific voice type exist in multiple voicings (low, medium and high).

For a complete catalog of vocal, choral, piano, chamber and orchestral music,

including recordings and score excerpts, visit:


a love like t hat - seafarer press · her first book-length poetry collection, orioling, received...

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