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I Will Love You Anywhere - (2001)
Mark Burstein
with his apologies to Dr. Seuss
for tenor and piano
for Mark and Llisa Burstein
I would love you in a boat.
I would love you with a goat.
I will love you in the rain.
In the dark. And on a train.
In a car. And in a tree.
You are so good, so good you see!
So I will love you in a box.
And I will love you with a fox.
And I will love you in a house.
And I will love you with a mouse.
And I will love you here and there.
Say! I will love you anywhere.Copyright © 2000 by Mark Burstein Used by permission.
2 pages, circa 1' 00"
Mark and Llisa Burstein
Mark Burstein writes, "On May Day, 1999, I married the loveliest woman in the world in a beautiful ceremony whose dual celebrants were Gary Bachlund (in double duty as Cantor and opera singer) and Richard Fowler, an Episcopal priest. My toast to my bride was written in verse, and was in part a tribute to my hero in that regard, Dr. Seuss."
Mark has been deeply involved in The Lewis Carroll Society of North America [ 1 ], and, with his father, has collected perhaps as large a private collection of Carroll memorabilia as there is in the world today. Llisa Demetrios is a granddaughter of designer Charles Eames, and a fine sculptor in her own right whose work can be seen at I. Wolk Gallery (at Auberge du Soleil) and Artists Forum.
This take off of a portion of a Dr. Seuss "classic" was done as a part of the quixotic romance between Mark and his wife. As it is meant to be both earnest and fun, E minor allowed movement to varying tonal regions as the images tumble across one's mind. The fall cascade of notes representing "rain" is no less figurative than the notated "chug chug" of the train or the repeated seconds calling to mind an auto horn. The opening gesture, mirroring the repeated "love you," is repeated thrice, in E minor, then its sub-mediant and then subdominant, a most standard song pattern here reflecting a most humorous litany of ways by which one might love another. Mark has yet to explain how one loves another "with a goat." Some questions are best left unanswered.
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ score.
