Whitman's America
for Soprano and Baritone Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra
Written: 2015-16
Duration: ca. 24'
Instrumentation: S, Bar, Chor – 3[1.2.3/pic] 2.3[1.2.3/bscl] 2-4.3.3[1.2.btbn] 1- timp+3perc (chimes, xyl, vib, crot, crash cym, templeblks, cast, med-triangle, sm-triangle, orch bells, sd, tambn, med-sus cym, woodblk, bd, tamtam, Mark Tree) – hp – str
New York City Premiere: Oratorio Society of New York, Kent Tritle, Conductor; Susanna Philips, Soprano Soloist; Steven Eddy, Baritone Soloist; Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, New York, NY, November 15, 2022
New York Premiere: Mostly Modern Orchestra (formerly titled American Modern Orchestra) and Albany Pro Musica, Kent Tritle, Conductor; Caitlin Lynch, Soprano Soloist; Chad Sloan, Baritone Soloist; José Daniel Flores-Caraballo, Albany Pro Musica Artistic Director, Mostly Modern Festival; Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 15, 2018
World Premiere: Gulf Coast Symphony, Fort Meyers Symphonic Mastersingers, Andrew M. Kurtz, Conductor; Jeffrey Faux, Artistic Director; Ilana Davidson, Soprano Soloist; Paul Corujo, Baritone Soloist, Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Fort Myers, FL, May 6, 2016
Commissioned by the Gulf Coast Symphony (Fort Myers, FL) as part of their 2020 Commissioning Project, Andrew M. Kurtz, Music Director and Conductor
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
Formerly titled Walt's America for the world premiere
NOTE: the instrumentation is designed to be identical to the Brahms Requiem but with additional percussion.
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PROGRAM NOTEs
I have always been very fond of Walt Whitman and his poetry, not only for the inherent beauty and sense of optimism he illustrates in many of his works, but also for his intimacy, directness, colorful descriptions, and the way in which he sings the praises of nature and our role in it as individuals.
Whitman’s America is a setting of six poems from Whitman’s final version of Leaves of Grass, often called the Death Bed Edition, since he compiled this version the year he died. My work is constructed in an arch form as a sort of quasi-fantasia. I view each connected movement or section as a scene or vision, perhaps from an imagined Whitman as he lay on his deathbed. My goal was to capture and highlight a variety of themes that permeate Whitman’s poems, and in particular, themes that have to do with his love of America and the American people.
The work begins with Gliding o’er all, a poem in which Whitman portrays a positive attitude toward death; he is prepared for it and ready to embrace it. He presents a tone of acceptance through the irony of singing of many deaths, for the positive act of singing, in the way he imagines, does not typically correlate with death. Next is I Dream’d in a Dream, sung by a solo baritone, a poem that describes a utopic vision of peace and harmony. Following that is I Hear America Singing, about American pride and having pride in one’s work. Next is America, describing the destiny of America as a nation, his love of the masses, his devotion to Democracy and America fulfilling the spiritual needs of its people. Second to last is A Prairie Sunset, sung by a solo soprano, a poem that captures the beauty of the American prairie, an aspect of the American landscape that Whitman was very passionate about. Finally, I end with After the Dazzle of Day, a beautiful poem describing the starry night sky, an evening filled with music and his own internal symphony during the silence that follows.
Whitman’s America was commissioned by the Gulf Coast Symphony (Fort Myers, FL) as part of their 2020 Commissioning Project, Andrew M. Kurtz, Music Director and Conductor.
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I. Introduction
II. Gliding o’er all
III. I Dream’d in a Dream
IV. Interlude I: Mechanical
V. I Hear America Singing
VI. America
VII. Interlude II: “Pure Luminous Color”
VIII. A Prairie Sunset
IX. Interlude III: Clangorous
X. After the Dazzle of Day -
Whitman’s America
CHOIR
Gliding o’er allGliding o’er all, through all,
Through Nature, Time, and Space,
As a ship on the waters advancing,
The voyage of the soul—not life alone,
Death, many deaths I’ll sing.BARITONE SOLO
I Dream’d in a DreamI dream’d in a dream I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream’d that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love, it led the rest,
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.CHOIR
I Hear America SingingI hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe
and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off
work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck-
hand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing
as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the
morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work,
or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young
fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.CHOIR
AmericaCentre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair’d in the adamant of Time.SOPRANO SOLO
A Prairie SunsetShot gold, maroon and violet, dazzling silver, emerald, fawn,
The earth’s whole amplitude and nature’s multiform power consigned
for once to colors;
The light, the genial air possessed by them—colors till now unknown,
No limit, confine—not the Western sky alone—the high meridian—
North, South, all,
Pure luminous color fighting the silent shadows to the last.CHOIR
After the Dazzle of DayAfter the dazzle of day is gone
Only the dark night shows to my eyes the stars;
After the clangor of organ majestic or chorus or perfect band
Silent athwart my soul moves the symphony true.Text from Leaves of Grass: Deathbed Edition by Walt Whitman. In the Public Domain.
Press Quotes
“While the breadth of the cycle was grand, each of the songs nonetheless seemed intimate... I loved Paterson’s tender approach to the piece, combining its clearly melodic tone with percussive elements and a skilled addition of brass... While the orchestra was an essential part of the score—particularly the variety of percussion and brass—and did an outstanding job, the chorus had the greatest opportunity to shine... I was particularly taken with the choral work in “I Hear America Singing.””
“Triadic harmonies here had a new sound and its balances were artful. We should look forward to Paterson’s next work.”
“Whitman’s America is an outstanding work. [Paterson’s} music is very much in sync with the rhapsodic and ecstatic aspects of Whitman’s verse and really enhances the text. Over the last 50 years or so I have heard very little from contemporary composers that I found particularly noteworthy. I tended to agree with Don Vroon, owner and editor of the American Record Guide, that nothing much of value has appeared since the death of Shostakovich in 1975. Robert Paterson has changed my mind.”