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.