Three Cummings Songs - (2007) 
E. E. Cummings
for soprano and piano
for soprano Hanan Alattar
i. may i feel said he [ 5 pages, circa 2' 30" ]
may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she
(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she
(let's go said he
not too far said she
what's too far said he....
This text remains under copyright and is therefore not fully reproduced herein.
[ from No thanks (1935) ]
ii. if i believe [ 4 pages, circa 4' 30" ]
if i believe
in death be sure
of this
it is
because you have loved me,
moon and sunset
stars and flowers
gold crescendo and silver muting
of seatides
i trusted not,
one night
when in my fingers
drooped your shining body
when my heart
sang between your perfect
breasts
darkness and beauty of stars
was on my mouth petals danced
against my eyes
and down
the singing reaches of
my soul
spoke
the green-
greeting pale-
departing irrevocable
sea
i knew thee death.
and when
i have offered up each fragrant
night, when all my days
shall have before a certain
face become
white
perfume
only,
from the ashes
then
thou wilt rise and thou
wilt come to her and brush
the mischief from her eyes and fold
her
mouth the new
flower with
thy unimaginable
wings, where dwells the breath
of all persisting stars
[ from "AMORES" in Tulips and Chimneys (1923) ]
iii. buy me an ounce and i'll sell you a pound. [ 5 pages, circa 2'00" ]
buy me an ounce and i'll sell you a pound.
Turn
gert
(spin!
helen)the
slimmer the finger the thicker the thumb(it's
whirl,
girls)
round and round
early to better is wiser for worse.
Give
liz
(take!
tommy)we
order a steak....
This text remains under copyright and is therefore not fully reproduced herein.
[ from 50 Poems (1940) ]
[ Total pages 14 plus title page and text, circa 9'00" ]
E. E. Cummings
These songs, drawn from Tulips and Chimneys (19323) and earlier, are a combination of what the arts have seen as that dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. This short cycle was composed in two days after having heard a fine singer in a secondary role for the premiere of Massenet's Manon at the Deutsche Staatsoper. Having met American soprano Hanan Alattar after the performance at a reception at the French Embassy on Pariser Platz, I complimented her for her fine vocal and stage gifts, and suggested I compose something specifically for her; these songs came quickly for I had re-read them only that afternoon. As other of my work shows, Cummings' brilliant opus is a great favorite of mine.
As these poems date from early in Cummings' career, I chose the simple title for this cycle to reflect that time of great change and social upheaval in America.
The opening text from the anthology titled No Thanks (1935) is a ribald conversation, in a humorous retelling of the age-old tale of man and woman. Each line is a change in character, and each strophe in the banter "accelerates" to the final climax and dénouement as "she" proclaims "you are Mine." The brittle opening reflects one of many standard Americana musical patois, and the lilt of the 3/8 meter is meant to underscore the "tongue in cheek" character of the text.
After several developing strophes in C and a wandering harmonic shift based on "flat-ten" chords, the last strophe rises a diminished fifth -- that "diabolus in music" -- to G flat major, for the final triumphant outbursts by "he" and "she," hers being the more triumphant for the final win in the "battle of the sexes."
The second setting is a gentle affirmation of love, through the eyes of mortality as various sweet words of love between man and woman dominate the poetic imagery. The truth of love is that it comes to eventual loss, and that loss teaches the deep value of love. For this, the accompaniment is merely a rocking structural underscore of the vocal line. A center section features a slightly faster urging on as the imagery points to the phrase and fulcrum of the setting, "i knew thee death." Thereupon the setting returns to its opening serenity and a vision of confidence by which death is in its own way conquered.
The last setting was the first to be composed, but as I worked through it, the notion of a rising final climax taught me that this would end the short cycle. Strophic in its structure, the humorous poem is a set of four differing twists on life's adages conflated with confusing sexual imagery, to reflect again the age old "battle of the sexes" as also found in the opening text. Cummings pairs Gert with Helen, Liz with Tommy, Sam with Alice and Fred with Neddy.
As the songs were imagined for this particular soprano, I thought a final ringing ending to the set was more than appropriate, and also apt for Cummings' last boastful line -- "here we come." One might deconstruct or interpret this poem in a number of ways, but I suspect Cummings aimed at a certain enthusiastic and playful ambiguousness in his writing and therefore the important feature of the setting is to fully interpret that enthusiasm. This setting is therefore not meant for anything less than full throated singing and broadly played gestures.
Hanan Alattar
Hanan Alattar holds an Artist Diploma (2004) and Masters of Music degree from The Juilliard School which she attended on a full scholarship, a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a recipient of a 2004 Sullivan Foundation Award from The William Mattheus Sullivan Music Foundation. From 2000-2002 she was the New Horizon Scholar at the Aspen Music Festival, where she won the 2002 Aspen Concerto Competition. Already a well established concert and opera artist, she has performed in many major theaters throughout the world.
This score will be published in an anthology of songs for soprano in the coming months, and the publication noted at that time on this page.
