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©2017 by Ingrid Stölzel

The Gorgeous Nothings (2016)

for Soprano, Flute, Oboe and Piano

Text: Emily Dickinson

Duration: ca. 10 minutes

Vocal Range: C4-A3

Commission: Lawrence Art Center

Duration: ca. 10 minutes

Premiere: Sarah Tannehill-Anderson, Soprano and Trio Allegresse, March 11, 2017, Lawrence, KS

 

I. Clogged Only With Music

Clogged


only with


Music, like


the Wheels of


Birds -

Afternoon and


the West and


the gorgeous


nothings


which


compose


the


sunset


keep


their high


appointment
 

Permission to use “Clogged Only With Music “granted by Harvard University Press. THE LETTERS OF EMILY DICKINSON, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Associate Editor, Theodora Ward, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1958 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © renewed 1986 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1914, 1924, 1932, 1942 by Martha Dickinson Bianchi. Copyright © 1952 by Alfred Leete Hampson. Copyright ©1960 by Mary L. Hampson.

 

II. In This Short Life

In this short Life

that only (merely) lasts an hour

How much – how

little – is

within our

power

Permission to use “In This Short Life “granted by Harvard University Press. THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1951, 1955 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © renewed 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1914, 1918, 1919, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1935, 1937, 1942, by Martha Dickinson Bianchi. Copyright © 1952, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1965, by Mary L. Hampson.

 

III. Paradise Is No Journey

Paradise is no Journey


because it he is within -


but for that very cause


though - it is the


most arduous of


Journeys - because as


the servant conscientiously


says at the Door


we are out -


always - invariably –

 

IV. The Little Sentences

The little


sentences


I begun


and never


finished -


the little


wells I dug and


never


filled –
 

 

V. It Is Very Still

It is very still in the


world now - Thronged


only with Music, like the

Decks of


Birds -

and the Seasons


take their hushed


places like figures


in a Dream -

Permission to use “Paradise Is No Journey,” “The Little Sentences” and “It Is Very Still“granted by Harvard University Press. THE LETTERS OF EMILY DICKINSON, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Associate Editor, Theodora Ward, Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Copyright © 1958 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © renewed 1986 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Copyright © 1914, 1924, 1932, 1942 by Martha Dickinson Bianchi. Copyright © 1952 by Alfred Leete Hampson. Copyright ©1960 by Mary L. Hampson.

 

Program Notes: “The Gorgeous Nothings” takes its title and inspiration from the facsimile publication of Emily Dickinson's complete envelope writings edited by Marta L. Werner and Jen Bervin. These beautiful fragments range from completed, self-contained short poems to mere thoughts hastily expressed on scraps of paper. I was drawn to these sketches as they seem to give us a glimpse into Dickinson’s creative process. Also, perhaps because of their very nature of incompleteness, the fragments allow the reader to engage in new ways with Dickinson’s words. It is my hope that the music captures these wonderfully suggestive aspects of the fragments.

“The Gorgeous Nothings” was commissioned by the Lawrence Art Center and premiered by Trio Allegresse with Soprano Sarah Tannehill-Anderson on March 11, 2017.

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