RETURN (1997-1998)
soprano and piano, 12 min.

I received a commission from the Reynolda House Museum of American Art to honor A.R. Ammons' 70th birthday. Soprano Marilyn Taylor and I premiered "I Went Back" in 1997 in the presence of the poet. Taylor wanted a lengthier work for her New York debut at Weill Hall the following year, and commissioned the two additional songs.

The cycle begins with "Father", a poignant poem in which the narrator's long-departed father and mother appear to him in dreams, only for him to reawaken yearning for their return. "Retiring" is the exultant middle scherzo, with sparkling coloratura turns in the voice and piano. The poet tells us the playfully grandiose things he will do with brooks, clouds and stars in his retirement. "I Went Back" places us in the terrain of Ammons' native eastern North Carolina. In returning to his home place, the furrowed fields become oceanic, and memory cannot be washed away. Undulating music permeates the song, which dissipates into silence.

Recorded by Marilyn Taylor on Return: Art Songs of Carolina (Albany Records).

Listen to a sample.