Program note

I composed this song-cycle for my friend, the baritone Patrick Mason, who first introduced me to this poet’s work. The titles of the five poems in the set are:

A Breath of Air

The Trouble with You

Neruda

To the Saguaro Cactus Tree in the Desert Rain

To a Troubled Friend

I chose these particular poems because together they formed for me a coherent and compelling emotional narrative, and also because of some shared imagery — of owls, trees and snow, among other things!

Performances

World Premiere: Patrick Mason, baritone, with Alexandra Nguyen, piano, in Grusin Hall, at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, September 21, 2010.

Andrew White, baritone, and Eric Charnofsky, piano, at West Park United Church of Christ, Cleveland, Ohio, April 3, 2011.

Andrew White, baritone, Valerie Cisler, piano, New Music Festival, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Nebraska, February 7, 2012.

Andrew White, baritone, Valerie Cisler, piano, University of Nebraska-Kearney, Nebraska, March 12, 2012.

Reviews

Andrew White described the Five Songs as “one of the finest contemporary cycles I have sung.”