As if Saying Goodbye (2020)
For mezzo-soprano voice and piano
(Also a version for soprano and piano)
Texts by Andrea Cohen
Duration: 9 minutes
Commissioned by Lisa Carlson, Elizabeth Falk, Theresa Huntsman, Martin Piecuch, and Max Shterngel
Written for Emily Hughes, mezzo-soprano
World premiere December 5, 2020, on a virtual YouTube event, with Emily Hughes, mezzo-soprano, and Jonathan Howard Katz, piano.
This work is available for retail purchase through my online store. Mezzo version is here, soprano version is here.
This work will be available for institutional purchase from Harrassowitz (OttoEditions) and Theodore Front Musical Literature.
Program note: I discovered Andrea Cohen’s poetry by chance, when I came across “The Committee Weighs In” on my Twitter feed. It struck me quite deeply, and I held onto the poem. A couple years later, when I was drawn to return to the art song genre, it became my starting point. I soon discovered that I connected to many of Andrea’s poems, and when I reached out to her I was delighted by her openness and enthusiasm for musical settings of her work. The poems I chose for this cycle seem to center on loss and various responses to it, but they also frequently include playfullness and images of childhood.