Hilary Tann

THAT JEWEL-SPIRIT … (SSA, Fl, Pno)

Rain — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:36:56 +0000

Jewel Spirit-SSA-pgs1-5-secureThat Jewel-Spirit was commissioned by Lick-Wilmerding High School to commemorate the life of former student Moe Christie Nakamura. Sacred Mount Haguro links the words of contemporary American poet Penny Harter and the Japanese haiku by Matsuo Bashô (tr. W. J. Higginson). Bashô’s haiku was written at Mount Haguro as a memorial poem; Penny Harter wrote “At the Top of Mount Haguro, Japan” while she and her husband W. J. Higginson were part of an international party following the Dewa section of Bashô’s “Narrow Road of the Interior.” The connections between “Momo” (the nickname of the beloved student who was an accomplished singer in her own right), Japan, and the USA are many. – HT

CONTEMPLATIONS 8, 9 (SCORE)

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BETWEEN SUNSETS (sop, pn SCORE)

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BETWEEN SUNSETS

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Between Sunsets-pgs1-5-secure Between Sunsets (midi audio excerpt)Between Sunsets was commissioned by the Strempel-Beaudette Duo for inclusion in an all-Cummings CD and was premiered at the 2012 Eastman School of Music Women in Music Festival in Rochester NY, March 29. Three poems by E. E. Cummings are set in a continuous cycle and the outer songs use some of the same musical material. The texts echo each other in mentioning sunsets, stars, and skies and are also united by greater senses of love. – HT

CONTEMPLATIONS 8, 9

Rain — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:17:39 +0000

Contemplations-8,9-pgs1-3-secure Contemplations 8, 9 (midi audio excerpt)Contemplations (8, 9) was composed for Cappella Clausura’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of Anne Bradstreet’s birth. Although it can stand alone, it is intended to precede Contemplations (21, 22), commissioned from Hilary Tann by the Radcliffe Choral Society for its 2005-6 season. The main body of the text consists of two verses from a much longer poem by “America’s first female poet” expanded by Psalm 148:2 in both Latin and English: “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.” In this setting, creatures offering praise include Bradstreet’s “merry grasshopper” and “black clad Cricket” as well as a short homage to Hildegard von Bingen. – HT
First Performance: March 17, 2012, Newton, MA, by Cappella Clausura, conducted by Amelia LeClair.

ON EAR AND EAR

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On Ear and Ear (piano/viola) as part of the Open Space/PNM Milton Babbitt Memorial (February 2012).

SHAKKEI (for Saxophone)

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In progress: An all-Tann CD with virtuoso saxophonist Susan Fancher and friends. Includes Shakkei and chamber works.

ON EAR AND EAR … (score and va part)

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ON EAR AND EAR …

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On Ear and Ear-pgs1-3-secureOn Ear and Ear … takes its cue from the opening few measures of Milton Babbitt’s 1950 Composition for Viola and Piano. Heard in slow motion, there is something so tender about the timbral and registral choices in the first four measures and these become reference points for this hommage. The title is from Gerard Manley Hopkins’ sonnet, “The Sea and the Skylark”. The two “ears” become those of the composer and her mentor at Princeton (Milton Babbitt); the two instruments (piano and viola); and the sea (“low lull-off or all roar”) and lark (“his rash-fresh rewinded new-skeinèd score”). On Ear and Ear … was composed in June/July 2011 for the Perspectives of New Music / Open Space memorial tribute to Milton Babbitt.

EXPRESSIONS

Rain — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:56:14 +0000

The Walls of Morlais Castle (for string orchestra)