God(Love) Songs: 5 poems of e.e. cummings

I figured I might as well post the whole cycle. I've been working on this set for about 2 years, with the idea in mind of the delicate balance between love and faith. e.e. cummings explores this balance incredibly well and the overall lyrical quality of his words was evident from my first readings of the poems. I wanted to create simple, straightforward melodies that did some interesting things, but overall maintained the introspective nature of the texts. I didn't write with a particular voice type in mind, but more of a characteristic voice, something light and flexible, not too bold and overpowering. The piano part is deliberately simple, meant to compliment the voice and sometimes comment on the text, but have both voice and piano tied intrinsically to each other. It is another way faith and love are tied together...to love you must have faith, and what is faith but the expression of love. Each lyric spoke to me on different levels, and I tried to create a cohesive whole out of many parts. I arranged the pieces in the order I think best develops a feeling, but I feel they may be performed in any order the singer wishes. Each piece I feel can stand on its own, without having to sing the whole cycle.

These are my first attempts at writing for solo voice, and I started writing these with developing singers in mind. The melodies aren't complicated, but at the same time aren't too simple. They require a good range and an ear for phrasing. I sometimes go long stretches without a breath in the voice, so as to give the singer a little control over how they wish to phrase the particular text. Before this I had never written for piano at all, so I know there are probably a multitude of sins in the piano part, especially in the scoring.

Any comments would be appreciated and helpful, as I'm starting to look for performers to premiere this work some time in the near future.

godletssoloScore.pdf

[ihavefoundsoloScore.pdf

lovissoloScore.pdf

littlechruchScore.pdf

thankyougodsoloScore.pdf

godletssolo.MID

ihavefoundsolo.MID

loveissolo.MID

littlechurch.MID

thankyougodsolo.MID

Sorry for the bump, but I'd really like some more feedback on these pieces...it's been almost a day with no replies.

... Amazing. I'm utterly shocked at how... outstanding this truly is. I'm honestly almost lost for words! It's a bit messy on the outside but it tastes fantastic!

Anyway, Lets listen to this music: The score does need some sins to be confessed and forgiven, at a glance it needs to be spaced out better and the arpeggio lines need to be in the right place...

On top of this I noticed a 10th and even an 11th interval in the left hand. You may want to explain how you want those played or change them entirely. OR raise rachmaninov from the dead and pay for his services.

I think you get the whole 'love and faith' intertwining to work quite well, and it does compliment the vocals quite nicely. Each part flows through a different mood, which keeps it interesting to say the least.

Not my kinda thing, a bit religious for me, but it's pleasant and does what it was supposed to do successfully, imo.

I thought it was very nice!

Especially the first one.

Love is:

I'm not really feeling the alternation of the same notes. Nice work bringing it to the alternating chords.

The left hand is good, if basic. You've got some movement going.

I like it, even though it's simple. I think you really hit what you were going for.

God lets:

I liked the intro, I thought I really set the pace for the rest of the song. The rolled chords in mm22-24 really worked well.

The feeling of these pieces has really impressed me so far. I think this defines successful. Knowing only a bit about ee cummings, I think the simplicity of the lines really reflects much of his style.

I have found:

This was incredible until the chordal part starting at mm22. I feel that the almost church-like chords are a bit out of place and don't reflect what's going on in the voice well. Other than that, I really felt it.

thank you god:

See, this is where I think the chords really work. You've got a nice intro section. The mood swing at mm19 is pretty ballin'. The next shift at 27 is a bit straying, but wuickly gets back under control. The end chord is really gorgeous, and I think in and of itself expressed your theme.

little church:

I feel this is a fluff piece, very pretty though. I'm just not grabbed by anything but that little F# C# G# D# motif, and it's repeated quite a bit. This one's also about twice as long as the others, so it's a bit harder to get through. The ending to it (mm155?)is the best part to me, just a nice perversion of the main motif to change it up a bit.

Overall, I think that little church is by far the weakest of the bunch, but they all express exactly what you were going for. Neat work.

Beyond the obvious sins in scoring, thank you guys so much for the replies. Andy, where I could I did try to roll the larger spaces in the left hand, although sometimes I didn't...I'll go back and check. I myself have pretty large hands so sometimes I have a tendency to miss those occasionally. I will go back and try to adjust. I'd probably need some help with scoring, especially piano parts.

I know it feels religious on the outside, but I think any time you talk about God it instantly gets religious, with or without that intent. e.e. cummings' father was a minister, so that no doubt painted his view on the world, but I tried to more reflect a religious sentiment (more reverence for love than anything outwardly religious). That's why I have the chordal sections in some songs (particularly "i have found") and the church-bell like feel especially in "i am a little church".

I really appreciate these replies, it's very heartening to me to see such positive feedback. Hopefully I can get more comments, whether they be as praising or not.

Friendly bump...

Looking at the 1st song, I like the beginning (word-setting-wise).

However, there are a few spots I'm less convinced of.

For example, you emphasize "the" in "a rose shall beget THE spring", which just seems like such a waste of dramatic impact.

You follow this with "the maidens WHOOOOM passion wastes.." again, seems like an emphasis that is misplaced.

I don't think you need to limit yourself to the strict time signature in this song. Your harmony is anything but "straight forward", which is a nice change. Now you need to liberate your sense of timing to go along with your sense of harmony. I would suggest you redo this song, examine the text attentively. look for the "high points" and the "insignificant words" ("the", "and", "a", "for", etc...).

When setting text to music, the music must not only support the text through the accompaniment, but the melody itself should highlight the text that is sung.

Thanks QC, I had a hard time setting that piece specifically for the reasons you just mentioned. I was hoping the leap down to "rose" would lend the emphasis towards that word, rather than "the". I really pay close attention to the melody and what words I highlight. As a signer, I love text-painting and coloring the words, I think this song was the hardest in the group to accomplish that. I took a lot of risks melodically with this text and I think I may have strayed a bit. I would love to hear your thoughts on the other pieces, I think your critiques are spot-on and are really what I need to push forward, having had little composition study up to this point (beyond my college theory classes and an introductory course).

Just a small update...I've been in contact with a few of the music teachers in my area and I may have some interested students who might be willing to take on this cycle for their summer study. I'm hoping this comes through...I'd really like to hear how it sounds with a real singer and pianist...I think this would sound best in a mezzo voice, although a tenor might work as well...what do you guys think about voice type?

I just love these poems-

careful, I noticed the word "that' is missing from the line:

"fruit THAT dangles therefrom, the purpled world will dance upon"

overall nice work. Give it to performers- they'll help you flesh out some of the accompaniment writing, I think.

I didn't catch that one c7...thanks for that...I also omitted 2 lines from"i am a little church" just to make the overall flow better (they were included in the original draft)

Hey, I like the settings.

when God lets my body be is, as said by QC, nicely set, text wise. I have found has a worship song feel to it (perhaps because of the melody, harmony and how some of the accompaniment go). Little church, erm... I downloaded the PDF but it doesn't seem finished, it ends at page 10... Is that really the end? love is the every god is nicely done too. I like the figures. And thank you is also pretty good.

Sorry, all my comments are rather crude and simple.

But yeah, which is why, I'll print these scores out and take it to the rehearsal I'm doing with my friend later =P She's gonna try out the first of my Emily Dickinson setting =P But I'm sure we have time to spare, which I'll use to try it out with her (then I can give you more elaborate comments).

As the piano part, do you play the piano? Because it doesn't seem very pianistic. I mean, it's playable but from the look of the score, some of it doesn't look like the usual piano writing. But maybe again it's what you want.

A lot of the piano writing is very much following the voice's rhythm. Hmm, it could be good, but after a while it loses the effects.

Another quick comment is that, I think the harmony is nicely done. Would sound heaps better on a real piano! But I think it might sound good as a choir piece too.

Oh well, I'll come back with more comments when I did a few run throughs of the pieces.

I am not a piano player at all. I did just well enough to pass my proficiency, and that's about all I can say for my skills with the piano (I never took a lesson when younger). The piano really is tied to the vocal part, both intentionally and out of necessity for me. I was also thinking about have it be accompanied by harp, in addition to the usual piano, I wanted it to be able to sound good with either instrument.

For some reason "i am a little church" did cut off one whole measure early...it sounds fine the way it is here, but there is a resolution chord that does end it...I may re-post it. It's by far the weakest of the bunch I believe, but there were some melodic moments that really stuck out, so I continued writing it.

It would be amazing if you had someone to run through them with...I can't wait to hear what you found. Like I said in your piece "Heart We will Forget Him" your piano writing is much stronger than mine. Thanks for looking through them!

The first thing I've noticed listening to all of these is that the piano part is always subordinate to the solo and never obscures the vocal line, which is good (you said you wrote these with developing singers in mind, and I'd imagine that the simplicity of the piano part makes it much easier for a soloist to follow along; especially since the rhythms in the two parts are often the same.)

Now, for individual songs:

The setting of the words in the first song works well as far as I can see (like I mentioned when I talked to you about these earlier, I'm not a vocalist so it all looks good to me anyway, hah.) The chords compliment your solo well, although something else could have been done with m. 14 - 15 imo- this stood out to me as "not fitting" somehow. Maybe it's the repetition, I don't know.

"I have found what you are like" is well written, and executed quickly and clearly. You get what you need to get across in a short space of time here.

The next one, "Love is the only every God," I'm not as convinced with. All the repetition in the piano part made bored me slightly after a while, although the voice was fine. I think more work here in the accompaniment would make this a better piece.

Little Church starts out very nicely- the repeated motif in the piano is catchy and serves as a good "anchor." The only thing that bugs me here is the sudden move from high up in the piano's register in the first few notes to the bass register- it's jarring and makes me wish you had written the opening section all in the treble clef range instead. Other than that, I like it.

"Thank you God" is far and away my favorite of the set you've presented here. The chords here are rich and provide a lot of color, and places where the rhythms in the vocal line and the piano part are the same give the listener something to focus on (they draw attention away from the accompaniment in the bass.) It's laid out so that the music goes from calm to calmer, all nicely tied together.

Overall, I think this is a very nice song cycle. Nice work, keep it upppp!