Eight Art Songs

Song Cycle by Dolores White (1932 - 2023)

A Lovely Love

Language: English 
Let it be alleys. Let it be a hall
 [ ... ]

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.

When Sue Wears Red

Language: English 
When Susanna Jones wears red
Her face is like an ancient cameo
Turned brown by the ages.
 
Come with a blast of trumpets, Jesus!
 
When Susanna Jones wears red
A queen from some-time Egyptian night
Walks once again.
 
Blow trumpets, Jesus!
 
And the beauty of Susanna Jones in red
Burns in my heart a love-fire sharp like pain.
 
Sweet silver trumpets, Jesus!

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ]

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Mein dunklen Hände. Moderne Negerlyrik in Original und Nachdichtung, herausgegeben und übertragen von Eva Hesse und Paridam von dem Knesebeck, München: Nymphenburger Verlag, 1953, page 62.


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

Velvet Shoes

Language: English 
Let us walk in the white snow
  In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
  At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

I shall go shod in silk,
  And you in wool,
White as white cow's milk,
  More beautiful
Than the breast of a gull.

We shall walk through the still town
  In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
  Upon silver fleece,
Upon softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
  Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
  On [white]1 silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 1990 [ soprano and piano ]
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Thompson: "the white"

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

To a Dead Friend

Language: English 
It is as if a silver chord
   Were suddenly grown mute,
And life's song with its rhythm warred
   Against a silver lute.

It is as if a silence fell
   Where bides the garnered sheaf,
And voices murmuring, "It is well,"
   Are stifled by our grief.

It is as if the gloom of night
   Had hid a summer's day,
And willows, sighing at their plight,
   Bent low beside the way.

For he was part of all the best
   That Nature loves and gives,
And ever more on Memory's breast
   He lies and laughs and lives.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

That Black Reef

Language: English 
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), 2003 [ soprano and piano ], Illinois University Press

Nails

Language: English 
— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ], Illinois University Press

Joy

Language: English 
I went to look for Joy,
Slim, dancing Joy,
Gay, laughing Joy,
Bright-eyed Joy --
And I found her
Driving the butcher's cart
In the arms of the butcher boy!
Such company, such company,
As keeps this young nymph, Joy!

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ]

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Dr Alissa Rose

Dreams

Language: English 
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 1995 [ soprano and piano ]

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

A Woman Who Loves Impossible Men

Language: English 
a woman who loves
impossible men
sits a long time indoors
watching her windows
she has no brother
who understands
where she is not going
her sisters offer their
own breasts up, full and
creamy vessels but she
cannot drink because
she loves impossible men

a woman who loves
impossible men
listens at night to music
she cannot sing
she drinks good sherry
swallowing around the notes
rusted in her throat
but she does not fill
she is already full
of love for impossible men

a woman who loves
impossible men
promises each morning
that she will take this day in her
hands
disrobe it lie with it
learn to love it
but she doesn’t she walks by
strangers walks by kin
forgets their birthmarks
their birthdays
remembers only the names
the stains of impossible men.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Set by Dolores White (1932 - 2023), copyright © 2003 [ soprano and piano ]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Total word count: 568