If Soul May Look

for Mezzo Soprano and Piano

2004

c. 17 minutes

Premiere: Kristin Dauphinais, mezzo soprano
Andrew Campbell, piano
Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University
October 25, 2004

(Mezzo soprano range: a3 to g 5)

Poetry: William Butler Yeats

[Currently unavailable for performance.]

Composer notes: Yeats’s poems tell the medieval story of a lady who cannot bear to give herself physically to her lover. She sends her chambermaid to his bed at night, with instructions there can be no speaking and no candles. Only in death do all three finally rest beside each other.

I feel this work is too long at 17 minutes. I plan to rework it into a shorter version in the future.