Two Shelley Songs

Description

Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Piano — “Two Shelley Songs” were composed in 1981 on a commission from Ithaca College and published by Elkan-Vogel, Inc. in the Ithaca College Choral Series in 1982.The two poems by Shelley used here are “To-” and “The Fugitives.”xa0 Both of these pieces, published separately, are scored for mixed chorus with piano accompaniment.xa0 In order to perform them well, an excellent pianist is essential, for the accompaniment to the second poem “The Fugitives” is quite difficult, though quite pianistic.The style of the first poem is in a somewhat romantic idiom while the second contrasts it with rather wild harmonic writing utilizing large skips, clusters and other dissonant chordal devices.xa0 Great care is taken throughout to make these difficult sounding portions as easy as possible to perform by taking great care of the voice leadings.The two pieces should be done as a pair, but could conceivably be done separately.