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Listen to a RealAudio (G2) stream of the first movement of this work performed by the South Bay Master Chorale, Iris S. Levine, conductor
Listen to a RealAudio (G2) stream of the second movement of this work.
Listen to a RealAudio (G2) stream of the second movement of this work performed by the Western Michigan University Chorale, Joe Miller, conductor.
Download an an MP3 file of the first movement of this work performed by the South Bay Master Chorale, Iris S. Levine, conductor.
Download an an MP3 file of the second movement of this work performed by the Western Michigan University Chorale, Joe Miller, conductor.
Download a PDF file of the poetry used in this work as text for printing in concert programs.
Commissioned by the Kellogg Chamber Singers of the California Polytechnic University, Dr. Iris Levine, Conductor.
Two Songs, "spring!" and "i carry your heart", are musical settings of poetry of E. E. Cummings. These songs were created to form a set with an earlier work, White Horses (also a setting of an e.e. cummings poem). Therefore, if the three songs are performed in order, White Horses joins with "spring!" as the sustain pedal in the piano accompaniment holds through from one song to the next.
Both White Horses and "i carry your heart" reflect the lyrical/romantic aspects of e.e. cummings's writing. The musical emphasis is on the vocal lines. In contrast, "spring!" is an enthusiastic celebration of Spring. This is an up-tempo work. Both the accompaniment and the choral parts are filled with interval leaps, perhaps reflective of lyrics such as:
"i'll dance and i'll sing
in the may, in the spring..."
Notes by the composer