Choral Music
it is at moments after i have dreamed (2007)
River of Stars (Amanogawa) (1999)
it is at moments after i have dreamed (2007) [SSAATTBB Choir on a text by
e.e. cummings] 6’
Requested and premiered by the Los Angeles Chamber Singers, Peter Rutenberg,
Director, Mount St. Mary’s College, Bel Air, California, June 1, 2007.
"The most memorable performances were of Ian Krouse's “ it is as moments I have
dreamed,” on text by e. e. cummings… Krouse's work, only his second for chorus, is
varied, surprising, engaging, and gorgeous, and it here received the kind of premiere that
most composers only dream about.”
Nick Strimple, AMERICAN CHORAL REVIEW, Fall 2007 of the LA Chamber Singers
conducted by Peter Rutenberg at the annual Chorus American concert in LA
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score available from the composer. P.O Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA
91307
Score
$3.00
Program notes and performance history:
it is at moments after i have dreamed was written for Peter Rutenberg’s superb Los
Angeles Chamber Singers. The text is the tenth of a collection of poems by e.e. cummings
called “Sonnets–Unrealities.” The text was brought to my attention by a graduate student
at UCLA who thought it might inspire me. Just about that time I was hunting for a
suitable text for Peter Rutenberg, who had asked me to compose a new piece for the Los
Angeles Chamber Singers. I was drawn instantly to this hauntingly beautiful poem and,
once having started, finished the piece within a matter of days. I was struck by the stark
reality that great poems such as this never need music; rather, it is we, the composers, who
need the poem to give voice to musical sounds and expressions that would not otherwise
see the light of day. That said the composer may (and I did!) indulge the text in ways that
cannot otherwise be accomplished. The sopranos begin by singing, literally, “it is at
moments after I have dreamed – it is at moments, moments, moments, of the rare
entertainment of your eyes.” The structural ‘bubble’ created by fragmenting and repeating
individual words – or not – enables the composer to control the metabolism of the text; at
times lingering at times racing. I particularly enjoy this aspect of text setting, and hope
that it creates a somewhat spontaneous, improvisatory impression.
it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when(being fool to fancy)i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds
the genuine apparition of your smile
(it was through tears always)and silence moulds
such strangeness as was mine a little while;
moments when my once more illustrious arms
are filled with fascination, when my breast
wears the intolerant brightness of your charms:
one pierced moment whiter than the rest
-turning from the tremendous lie of sleep
i watch the roses of the day grow deep.
by e.e.cummings
River of Stars (Amanogawa) (1999) [Motet for SATB Chamber Choir on texts by
Akiko Yosano, Hayashi Amari, Meiko Matsudaira, Marichiko, and others] *Permission
has been sought. [ 15’]
Requested and premiered by the Los Angeles Chamber Singers, Peter Rutenberg,
Director, Zipper Auditorium, Colburn School, Los Angeles, California, April 1, 2000.
Score available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA
91307
Score
$8.00
Program notes and performance history:
River of Stars is a literal translation of the Japanese word 'amanogawa', commonly known
in the English-speaking world as the Milky Way. It was written at the request of Peter
Rutenberg for the Los Angeles Chamber Singers, and subsequently premiered by them at
the Colburn School in Los Angeles, April 1, 2000. I have always wished to write a poly-
textual motet in the manner of the 13th century French composers, and the juxtaposition of
this archaic European style with contemporary texts by Japanese women proved too
delicious for me to pass up. Though I knew going in that it might be hard to pull off, I
decided I had to try, and the opportunity to write for Peter’s crack chamber choir seemed
to provide the perfect opportunity.
Most of the texts were written by the celebrated 19th century Japanese poet Akiko
Yosano, one of the first women in Japan to write in an explicitly erotic manner. Most of
the rest of the texts were written by women of our time, all highly influenced by Akiko’s
pioneering example. Most of the poems take the form of the tanka, short poems akin to
haiku, which are arranged in lines with the syllable pattern: 5 – 7 – 5 – 7 – 5. Normally
the poems subdivide into two parts, the first three lines forming the first, the last two, the
second. I arranged the poems into two groups, the "tenor "group, and the
"motetus" group. The poems of the tenor group are simple in style and ethereal in tone,
centering on images of the moon, temple bells, heartbeats, and koto-strikes. The motetus
texts are arranged in three parts in a semi-narrative fashion, and are intended to depict the
symbolic passing of time. The texts of part one are full of Narcissistic adoration and
anticipation for a night of love. Those of Part Two express passion and ecstasy, while the
texts of Part Three are given to reflection and melancholy. The work ends with a reprise
of music heard at the end of Part One. Though the actual score is structurally more
intricate than this brief explanation reveals, I leave that to the listener to discover. The
work is dedicated to "my beloved wife Chika."
Part One
Tenor:
the moon is
full
the night is very
still
my heart
beats
like a
bell
tsuki wa
saerushi
yo wa shin
shin to
kokoro
bososa yo
kane no koe
Trans. By Kenneth Rexroth
Anonymous
Duplum:
immersed in my
hot
bath, like a lovely
lily
growing in a
yuami sura
izumi no soko
no
sayuri-bana
spring
my twenty-year-old body—
so beautiful, so
sublime
Trans. By Sam Hamill and Keiko
hatachi no
natsu o
utsukushi to
minu
Yosano
Akiko
Matsui Gibson
Triplum:
gently, I open
the
door to
eternal
mystery, the
flowers
of my breasts,
cupped
offered with both my
hands
Trans. By Sam Hamill and Keiko
chibusa osae
shinpi no
tobari
soto kerinu
kokonaru
hana no
kurenai zo
koki
Yosano
Akiko
Matsui Gibson
Quadruplum:
tell
them
she is enjoying the
view
of the
moon
a pink gossamer
robe
barely covering her
body
Trans. by Makoto Ueda
hanshin ni
usukurenai no
usumono no
koromo
matoite
tsuki miru to
ie
Yosano
Akiko
Refrain
Tenor:
amidst the
koto no ne ni
notes
of my koto is
another
deep mysterious
tone,
a sound that comes
from
within my own
breast
Trans. By Kenneth Rexroth
kyosho no oto
no
uchi majiru
kono ayashisa
mo
mune no
hibiki zo
Yosano
Akiko
Duplum:
I finger
the
lace on my
collar
until night, when
you
turn over my
petals
Translated by Leza Lowitz, Miyuki
erimoto no
resu o ijiru
hanabira o
anata ga
mekutte
kureru yoru
made
Hayashi
Amari
Aoyama, and Akemi Tomioka
Part Two
in bright spring
sunshine
adoring lovers
recline
against a white
wall
a lonely stranger
watches
dusk enters the
wisteria
haru no hi o
koi ni taru
yoru
shira-kaba zo
uki wa tabi no
ko
fuji
tasogaruru
Trans. By Sam Hamill and Keiko Yosano Akiko Matsui Gibson
Tenor:
I saw a young
girl
naked
steering a
boat
across an open
sea
it was only the
moon
of a summer night
Trans. By Glenn Hughes and
orakani
kurokise mi
sete
isanayuku
kami ho no mi
no
akatsuki
tsukiyo
Yosano
Akiko
Yozan T. Iwasaki
Duplum:
I hold your head
tight
between my thighs and
press
against your mouth
and
float away forever
in
an orchid
boat
on the river of
heaven
Trans. By Kenneth Rexroth
anata no
atama wo
watashi no
mata ni
shikkari
hasami
anata no
kuchi ni
watashio
tsuyoku
oshishitsukeru
to, watashi
wa
ran no hana
no fune ni
notte
tokoshie ni
tengoku no
kawa wo
tadayotte
yuku
Marichiko
Triplum:
the peony in her
hair
flared up, setting the ocean on
kasashitaru
botan hi to
fire
the dream of a
woman
whose thoughts are in a
frenzy
nari umi
moenu
omoi
midaruru
hito no ko no
yume
Trans. By Makoto Ueda
Yosano
Akiko
Quadruplum:
warm
wine
from his
mouth
to
mine
lapping against
me
radiating through
me
kuchi
utsusareshi
nuruki wain
ga
hita hita to
ware wo
kumanaku
hakkoh saseru
Trans. by Leza Lowitz, Miyuki
Matsudaira Meiko
Aoyama, and Akemi Tomioka
Part Three
feeling
that
you were waiting for
me,
I went out into the flowering
fields
and found the new
moon
Trans. By Sam Hamill and Keiko
nanitonaku
kimi ni
mataruru
kokochi shite
ideshi hana
no no
yuzukuyo
kana
Yosano
Akiko
Matsui Gibson
the river of
stars
amanogawa
begins to part
high
in the Milky Way
while
through the curtains of our
bed
I lied awake and
watched
Trans. By Sam Hamill and Keiko
soine no toko
no
tobari-goshi
ni
hoshi no
wakare o
sukashi miru
kana
Yosano
Akiko
Matsui Gibson
Refrain
Tenor:
the moon is
full
the night is very
still
my heart
beats
like a
bell
tsuki wa
saerushi
yo wa shin
shin to
kokoro
bososa yo
kane no koe
Trans. By Kenneth Rexroth
Anonymous
Duplum:
amidst the
notes
of my koto is
another
deep mysterious
tone,
a sound that comes
from
within my own
breast
Trans. By Kenneth Rexroth
Akiko
koto no ne ni
kyosho no oto
no
uchi majiru
kono ayashisa
mo
mune no
hibiki zo
Yosano
Special thanks to Toshie Marra, librarian in the East Asian Library at UCLA, for helping
to locate the original Japanese texts for several of the poems, and to Chika Kawahara, and
Maki Tauchi, for their invaluable help in translating and locating several of the poems.