SONGS
OF ISSA (1999) for soprano and piano |
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PROGRAM
NOTE |
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Songs
of Issa (1999). Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827) was the best loved
of the Japanese Haiku poets. Generally speaking, his prose reflects
two themes: tragedy and nature. In composing the cycle I tried to capture
the simple character or meaning inherent in each poem: the off and on
of a firefly's light, the heavy burden of loosing a child, the slow
movement of a snail, and the grieving over the loss of a mother. |
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LISTEN
(mp3) The Firefly | Dew | The Snail | Deep Dark Sea |
LOOK
(pdf) Dew |
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| Barbara Clements, soprano & Jason Smith, piano | score sample |
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| AWARDS | |||||
| •
Winner, The Chicago Ensemble 'Discover America IV' Composition Contest • Finalist, Auros New Music Composition Competition |
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| PERFORMANCE HISTORY | |||||
| • Premiered
August 17, 1999, CASMI Workshop, Dohnanyi Recital Hall, Tallahassee, FL Julie Gickling, soprano & Joanna Sobkowski, piano |
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| • March 22, 2000, UT Austin, Recital Hall, Austin, TX, Jennifer Needham, soprano & Leonard Mark Lewis, piano | |||||
| • April 7, 2000, Ruta Maya Coffee House, Austin, TX, Jennifer Needham, soprano & Leonard Mark Lewis, piano | |||||
| • February
3, 2001, FSU Festival of New Music, Dohnanyi Recital Hall, Tallahassee,
FL Barbara Clements, soprano & Trey Cox, piano |
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| • June 20,
2001, Music 2001, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Werner Recital Hall,
Valerie Kraft, soprano & Jeremy Rafal, piano |
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| • February
16, 2003, Chicago, IL, International House, Sharon Quatrin, soprano &
Gerald Rizzer, piano The Chicago Ensemble |
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| • February
18, 2003, Chicago, IL, Three Arts Club, Sharon Quatrin, soprano &
Gerald Rizzer, piano The Chicago Ensemble |
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| • April 11th,
2003, Tallahassee, FL, Opperman Music Hall Barbara Clements, soprano & Jason Smith, piano |
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| • April 29,
2006, Del Mar College School of Music, Wolfe Recital Hall, Corpus Christi,
TX Cynthia Longoria, soprano & David Sutanto, piano |
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SONGS
OF ISSA COPYRIGHT © 1999 BY JAMES BARRY (ASCAP) |
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| TEXT | |||||
Issa (1763-1827) THE FIREFLY DEW THE
SNAIL DEEP
DARK SEA |
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