Four Songs for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra
Four Songs was composed for mezzo-soprano Michelle Monroe. The texts included in this set are:
- Actaeon (1908) – Floyd Dell
- The Man He Killed (1902) – Thomas Hardy
- Submarine (1917) – Eugene O’Neill
- When You Are Old (1893) – W.B. Yeats
This composition was originally completed in Louisville on 3 August 2019 and premiered by Professor Monroe and Dr. Robin Guy (piano) 10 March 2022 in Bengtson Hall at the University of Northern Iowa. These performers recorded the songs in May of 2022; that recording is included on my 2023 release, remember (Neuma 183).
In 2021, while in residence at The Hambidge Center, I arranged the Four Songs for chamber orchestra. This version was premiered by Michelle Monroe 24 February 2024 in Davis Hall at the University of Northern Iowa, Dr. Erik Rohde, conductor.