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Birdsongs

for medium voice and piano

total duration app. 24 minutes

I-The Dead (2:30)
II-Birdsong (4: 00)
III-In Medias Res (2:40)
IV-Middle March (2:30)
V-What I Want Is (3:00)
VI-Altruists (2:20)
VII-I Am Noah (3:40)
VIII-Vainglorious (1:40)

Program Notes:

Birdsongs was written for and with the assistance of Ashly Evans.  She first introduced me to the wonderful poems of Rebecca Bauman when I offered to write a cycle for her on any texts of her choosing.  These songs are dedicated to her, may they help her fly high above the rest…

I chose the eight poems for Birdsongs out of many that Ms. Bauman had posted on her website.  These poems were not originally meant to be placed together, but I feel that they create a sort of collage or image of what it means to be a women in the 21st century (or at least what I think it might mean, having no empirical knowledge of my own).  Now this might not be Ms. Bauman’s intentions, but I think that her voice is the unifying factor within the poems, her wit and imagery a bridge toward a deeper truth.  Of course I could be completely wrong…

In writing the music for these songs, I was heavily influenced by a variety of styles and forms throughout the history of vocal music.  “The Dead” is directly influenced by Schumann’s Dichterliebe, “Vainglorious” by bebop jazz.  “Altruists” is sort of a modern prelude and fugue, and “What I Want Is” reminds me of some strange pop song.  “I Am Noah” has a quartal ostinato that to me sounds sacred, “In Medias Res” is akin to a recitative, and “Middle March” has a slight resemblance to ritornello form.  “Birdsong” even includes actual birdsongs performed in the upper register of the piano as interludes between sections (thank you Messiaen).  My intentions in referencing these styles and forms was not to create allusions to distant works or to parody or mimic, but rather to slightly shade the music in a history that mires up the imagination with a thousand images of beauty and tragedy.  Enjoy.

–Ryan Jesperson 10/20/2008, Kansas City, MO.

For the complete text, CLICK HERE.

Portions of Birdsongs were performed by Sharon O. Campbell and Marilyn Musick at the Nebraska at Kearney New Music Festival on March 31st, 2009. A premiere of the full work is expected in the fall of 2010.