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Take My Hand

Take My Hand was composed as a gift for a friend of the composer. It is a setting for medium voice and piano based on a poem by Robert Bode that celebrates the union of two lives. Rich keyboard harmonies support an arching melodic line in the voice, all in a moderate tempo. The piece is an ideal song for any wedding ceremony. Duration: ca. 2:00.

Take Peace

Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord

Refuge : from Sing Evermore!

An assuring text from master poet Sara Teasdale, its central theme is that one can take refuge in singing. Ever sensitive to the text, Walker crafts word painting throughout with shimmering accompaniment figures, textural changes, and fanfare-like passages in the voices on the word "free". Excerpted from the larger work Sing Evermore! and available in both SATB and TTBB voicings.

Maid of Constant Sorrow

A familiar American folk song is A Man of Constant Sorrow. Adaptations exist for a maid of constant sorrow as well. This is a very simple melody, placed in the key of C major. The message is a mournful one. The soul is troubled, and not at rest. “All through this world, I’m bound to ramble...perhaps I’ll take the very next train.” Then, later, “perhaps I’ll die upon this train.” Some comfort is taken with the lines “I know we’ll meet on God’s Golden Shore.” Approachable vocal writing with a gently flowing piano accompaniment. Duration: 4:15A familiar American folk song is A Man of Constant Sorrow. Adaptations exist for a maid of constant sorrow as well. This is a very simple melody, placed in the key of C major. The message is a mournful one. The soul is troubled, and not at rest. “All through this world, I’m bound to ramble...perhaps I’ll take the very next train.” Then, later, “perhaps I’ll die upon this train.” Some comfort is taken with the lines “I know we’ll meet on God’s Golden Shore.” Approachable vocal writing with a gently flowing piano accompaniment. Duration: 4:15

The Morning Train: 3. Maid of Constant Sorrow

A familiar American folk song is "A Man of Constant Sorrow." Adaptations exist for a maid of constant sorrow as well. This is a very simple melody, placed in the key of C major. The message is a mournful one. The soul is troubled, and not at rest. "All through this world, I'm bound to ramble...perhaps I'll take the very next train." Then, later, "perhaps I'll die upon this train." Some comfort is taken with the lines "I know we'll meet on God's Golden Shore." But the life on this earth is one of constant sorrow. Duration: 2:30.

God Who Stretched

Commissioned by Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to celebrate the service of William H. Mathis, Minister of Music and Fine Arts. It was first performed on June 11, 2017. The noble spaciousness of this wonderful poem by Catherine Cameron is set to original music expressed in the nature of an arpeggio, which can take us to the heights in just an instant. Trumpet calls echo through this arrangement: you'll find them in all the parts. For SATB chorus, sometimes in unison, sometimes in two parts, the piece moves to its soaring conclusion, “Great Creator, give us guidance, Till our goals and yours are one.” Duration 2:45Commissioned by Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to celebrate the service of William H. Mathis, Minister of Music and Fine Arts. It was first performed on June 11, 2017. The noble spaciousness of this wonderful poem by Catherine Cameron is set to original music expressed in the nature of an arpeggio, which can take us to the heights in just an instant. Trumpet calls echo through this arrangement: you'll find them in all the parts. For SATB chorus, sometimes in unison, sometimes in two parts, the piece moves to its soaring conclusion, “Great Creator, give us guidance, Till our goals and yours are one.” Duration 2:45

Three Songs on Poems by Lorri Neilsen Glenn

Commissioned by the Canadian Art Song Project for soprano Magali Simard-Galdès, winner of the Jeunesses Musicales Maureen Forrester Tour. This song cycle is, in part, a meditation on what it means to be a mortal being who exists in time. The first and last movements each present a different take on looking back, and the cycle moves backward in time from evening to mid-day to dawn. Images from each poem are woven into the music: the first movement is full of sewing imagery, so in places the pianist imitates the ebb and flow of a sewing machine's ostinato. The playful second movement depicts icicles melting, opening with their unpredictable drips. In the third movement, cloudsbloom.

Reverie Hommage a Francis Poulenc

Poignant, evocative, wistful, playful, charming. These are just a few of the many adjectives that recount Francis Poulenc's musical craft, and perhaps, even his own personal disposition. When the musical elite begin any discussion (or argument) regarding the art of Francis Poulenc, one quote patented by noted music critic Claude Rostand seems to always bubble towards the surface: "In Poulenc, there is something of the monk and something of the rascal." How often we see that dichotomous but unifying strand of inspiration throughout his entire oeuvre! With the contrasting and complimentary ingredients of both piety and playfulness thoughtfully put in place, it is the intent ofRêverie to conjure the heart of Poulenc's musical form. Rêverie is a work that combines harmonic inventiveness, melodic poignancy and rhythms sprinkled with mischievous pulses. While the work does pay homage to the master with reverence, it simultaneously summons a fresh, new perspective of these old, familiar forms-these "ships" of our pasts. With that said, perhaps it is best to let Stravinsky take the helm: "[But] the true work of an artist is to improve upon old ships. He can only recount in his own way what has already been told." -Luke MayernikIncludes score and Alto Saxophone part. Duration: 6:30

Mary Chesnut: A Civil War Diary

Mary Chesnut (1823 1886) was the wife of confederate Colonel James Chesnut. They owned a plantation near Camden, South Carolina, during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. They also owned many slaves, both field hands and household servants. They moved in privileged social circles, dining with politicians, judges, and ranking military leaders. Mary was a well-read, educated, and articulate southern woman. The words, emotions, and events that follow were diligently entered into her diary, creating an impressive chronicle of the times. No attempt was made to alter her views. Nor was any attempt made by the composer to make a political point or take a position on any issue.This story is Mary Chesnut’s, and it is from her singular point of view from which the drama springs. Some of her opinions and attitudes were very much of-the-day, and may offend current sensibilities. While slavery plays a critical role in the events contained herein, I have decided not to lean too heavily on it (that is another piece), focusing more on how the war impacted Mary’s personal life. A Diary from Dixie was originally published in 1905, edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary. While there are other collections of Mary Chesnut’s writing available, this libretto was derived principally from A Diary from Dixie. -Steven Mark Kohn, 2012

On Recollecting

These songs were commissioned by the Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont, Massachusetts in honor of Ruth Lloyd Black, their co-founder. The first performance was on August 30, 2015, soon after her death. My recollections of Ruth over some sixty years of friendship were a mixture of laughter and tears. She was a tireless advocate of chamber music, a fine musician, and possessor of a delightfully British sense of humor. Emily Dickinson has her tongue firmly in her cheek in these poems. There is serious purpose under the lyrics, but the surface is pure word-play. She juggles the terms “forgetting” and “recollecting” in each poem until they almost take each other’s meaning. The firstpoem may have accompanied a gift of flowers to a grieving neighbor: she shares the grief, but assuages it with humor. The first statement of “blithe” fingers should be happy, the second drenched in sorrow. I love the way the second poem opens like a puzzle: is she forgetting to remember, or remembering to forget? In either case, it ends with the touching image of a lost child. She continues to confuse us in the third song: is it sunrise or sunset that is “the other one?” The setting sun is her subject in many wonderful poems: here, she would rather “die divinely” in glorious color (echoes of Sarah Bernhardt?) than merely wane away. -Alice Parker