Velvet Shoes |
Now available on Sheet Music Plus!
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for SATB choir, a cappella
Duration: ~3'
Premiere: June 25th, 2016 by the Princeton Singers; Steven Sametz, director, Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Program Note:
Elinor Wylie’s Velvet Shoes is a text I’ve wanted to set for a long time. This poem describes a couple walking through a snowstorm “at a tranquil pace” in their velvet shoes, appreciating the white and still setting. The narrator optimistically imagines their future continuing this way. It resonated with me beyond the idea of intimate relationships, and to all the people I cherish in my life with whom I hope to be able to enjoy these moments. The musical genesis of this piece revolved around trying to capture the romantic quality of this tranquil silence. For me, I couldn’t help but think of the opening three notes to Brahms’ Intermezzo from Op. 118, which are quoted at the opening.
This piece was written for my participation in the 2016 Lehigh University-ACDA Summer Choral Composers Forum. I was extremely grateful to work with my former teacher Steven Sametz and composer-in-residence Sven-David Sandström.
Duration: ~3'
Premiere: June 25th, 2016 by the Princeton Singers; Steven Sametz, director, Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Program Note:
Elinor Wylie’s Velvet Shoes is a text I’ve wanted to set for a long time. This poem describes a couple walking through a snowstorm “at a tranquil pace” in their velvet shoes, appreciating the white and still setting. The narrator optimistically imagines their future continuing this way. It resonated with me beyond the idea of intimate relationships, and to all the people I cherish in my life with whom I hope to be able to enjoy these moments. The musical genesis of this piece revolved around trying to capture the romantic quality of this tranquil silence. For me, I couldn’t help but think of the opening three notes to Brahms’ Intermezzo from Op. 118, which are quoted at the opening.
This piece was written for my participation in the 2016 Lehigh University-ACDA Summer Choral Composers Forum. I was extremely grateful to work with my former teacher Steven Sametz and composer-in-residence Sven-David Sandström.
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Text:
Velvet Shoes from “Still Colors” Let us walk in the white snow In a soundless space; With footsteps quiet and slow, At a tranquil pace, Under veils of white lace. I shall go shod in silk, And you in wool, White as white cow's milk, More beautiful Than the breast of a gull. We shall walk through the still town In a windless peace; We shall step upon white down, Upon silver fleece, Upon softer than these. We shall walk in velvet shoes: Wherever we go Silence will fall like dews On white silence below. We shall walk in the snow. -Elinor Wylie (1920) |
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