To You

To You - a virtuosic chromatically modal art song using text from the poem by Walt Whitman.

The Text:

Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that you be my poem;

I whisper with my lips close to your ear,

I have loved many women and men, but I love none better than you.

In this piece, I set up a steady pulse at about the tempo of a person's breathing that changes at specific points in order to construct structural moments in which the melody and the pulse interact and meet. The melodic setting of the text is the predominant compositional factor - that is, I wrote the melody first, and the harmonies of the pulse correspond to it.

Because of the stretches involved in the piano lines, tempo is freer than is represented in this recording. Also in this recording the articulations and dynamics are too abrupt and disparate. A live performer would treat them better.

In case you missed it in the body of the text:

THE LINK

The score is attached below.

Soon to arrive, by the way, a second Whitman song, from "A Noiseless Patient Spider." Maybe the makings of a song cycle?

Very very nice! It's a shame no one's responded to this yet. The melody sounds quite natural. Nothing seems abrupt or unnatural. The accompaniment helps move the piece along and really does sound like breathing. It's extremely well constructed; I can't even discern where or how you started writing this.

THANK YOU!

I'm going over it with a soprano I found who can sing it next week or the week after, and I should have a live recording soon.

very enjoyable and well written! the melody flows marvelously and is supported by a very sensitive accompaniment. great job!

it's not bad, but I don't find it experimental

Ah, but it is atonal, and therefore belongs in this section of the forum.

I talked to my composition teacher, and he gave me some really good ideas for strengthening the piece - so here's the edited copy.

mp3 can be heard at my soundclick: www.soundclick.com/christopherdunnrankin

Have you really found someone who's able to hit those incredibly high notes? Wow! I'd definitely love to hear that!

Aside from the obvious difficulties surrounding the range of the voice part, it's a nice piece.

At measure 23, I believe you meant the d natural in the voice part to be a d flat? The piano has a d flat, and it sounds a little odd the way you have it.

And I don't understand why you say this is atonal, because it sounds rooted in C major to me... Care to explain this?

Also, I'm not sure I hear many linking elements in the piece - it seems a little disjointed a bit, although the mood stays pretty static (which is perhaps another thing to think about). Maybe if you define the motivic elements within the piece, that could help me understand it better?

But, good work, none the less!

Nick, thanks for the comments!

In answer to your questions:

The D natural, which does create an odd tension in measure 23, is meant to be there. I felt it was too early to introduce the Db in the vocal line, as the climax note a few measures later is that Db.

I have found a soprano who can sing those notes! Her name is Leigh, and she's wonderful.

The stasis of mood is actually textual - since this is really just a few lines from a much longer poem.

And it's not really atonal. It's not in C Major either, though... I like to call this sort of thing "multitonal" - where the key center shifts around too often to be named as one or the other. If it fit into any key at all, it'd be a mode of F, I feel.

Chris - I am generally not fond of your style of music. I do not like most of your compositions even though they are good for what they are meant to be. You may also remember having argued several times about modern music and atonal music and all that stuff that is implied when talking on that subject. So, we differ greatly in opinions. However, this piece is more towards a style that I can like. In fact I love it. I think it is your best work, period. It is beautiful and moody. I would wish for you to continue to mature in this direction because of the talent that you show that you have in this more melodic and more tonal style. I know you said it is atonal, but I do not really agree. There is a definite direction and a definite tonal relationship between the melody and the chord progressions in many spots.

Nick, thanks for the comments!

In answer to your questions:

The D natural, which does create an odd tension in measure 23, is meant to be there. I felt it was too early to introduce the Db in the vocal line, as the climax note a few measures later is that Db.

I agree with Nickthoven on this one. I Having both a D flat and natural in the same chord stands out quite noticeably because it is inconsistent with how you have treated all previous chord-scales (i.e., correctly - for lack of a better word). Personally, I think the the Db is out of place in the accompaniment - the Ab chord takes lydian very nicely.

And it's not really atonal. It's not in C Major either, though... I like to call this sort of thing "multitonal" - where the key center shifts around too often to be named as one or the other. If it fit into any key at all, it'd be a mode of F, I feel.

Certainly it's not atonal. Rather, it's VERY tonal, chock full of root position chords with color/tensions/upper-structure/whatever-you-like-to-call-them type voicings. And yes, it slips into a sub-dominant minor tonality for a quite a while there.

I find it interesting that you think of this as being multi-tonal. I'm curious; if you were to score this peice a whole step lower, would you notate it in two flats?

No, I'd probably keep it without a key signature.

I suppose from a notational standpoint it is tonal. But the more I listen to it, the more it reinforces to me that it's really not in a single key. It could be just the way I listen to it though.

I hate to advertise in threads, but Leightwing - I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about the other one of my pieces from this same cycle - A Noiseless Patient Spider.

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/noiseless-patient-spider-5537.html

No, I'd probably keep it without a key signature.

I suppose from a notational standpoint it is tonal. But the more I listen to it, the more it reinforces to me that it's really not in a single key. It could be just the way I listen to it though.

Yeah - this is a problem I have with our system of notation. Key signatures (or lack of them) can be missleading. I mean - Your peice starts out with no sharps and flats (I.e. C major) but then clearly hangs out in three flat territory for a while (with the occasional curve ball). Obviously you could change the key signature (for ease of reading), but just seeing a key signature can "influence" the players ears. My jazz training suggested that the ear percieves "keys of the moment", but they need to be set up and sustained to be "real". For instance in the progression C7 F Bb7 Eb Ab7 Db7 Gb., technically you could say it was in F, then Eb, then Db, then Gb - but the lack of any other diatonic chords in those keys leave them un-established as far as the ear is concerned. Your peice, on the other hand definitely establishes tonalities for sustained periods.

On the other hand, you are right, you probably hear it differently than I do. My ears hear jazz voicings very readily, but I do have a pretty good handle on classical/traditional harmony - but when peices cross over idomatic lines, that's when things get all messed up.

FWIW, when you don't change the key signature - My ear is "waiting" for things to resolve back to C, which... they do! That's why I asked the question. For instance, I would be very tempted to put this in three sharps if asked to transpose it down a minor third by a singer with a less than stratospheric range.

I like it quite a lot!

It is...beautiful!

That Db around the middle will give a hard time your soprano (but I do know 1 who can do it, meaning that there are sopranos that sing this high... :D), and you do approach it with care so it should be ok...

I like the pulse, the ideas, the modal structure of the harmony, although it does tend to expose more than often the C maj chord as mentioned elsewhere.

I'm not sure if this piece would go anywhere else, but this place.

:w00t:

Yeah. I was hesitant to put it in Chamber music - though when all six movements are done I'll post them all together in Major Works.