THE SPACE BETWEEN, a Song Cycle on the Poetry of Wendell Berry

GENDEL, SCOTT (b. 1977). THE SPACE BETWEEN, a Song Cycle on Poetry of Wendell Berry. High voice and piano. E. C. Schirmer Music Company (ECS), 2008. Tonal; C^sub 4^-A^sub 5^; Tess: CR & mL-mH; changing meters, a variety of tempos; V/-D, P/M-D; 20 minutes. High voice. Scott Gendel (pronounced a hard g and accent on second syllable) currently lives Madison, WI, where he is a freelance composer/arranger and a pianist/conductor who works solo singers, choirs, and theater productions. His academic training is composition, opera accompanying, and vocal coaching, and he puts all these skills to good use his vocal compositions. First Prize Winner ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Song Cycle Competition 2005, composer was commissioned by Foundation to write a song cycle. The result is this set of songs on poetry of Wendell Berry, whose poems have attracted other song composers because of beauty of their imagery and depth of their meaning. The composer states Program Notes by Composer printed on back of score that he wished to make this work a declaration of my personal philosophy and my musical passions. To that end he chose six poems (one is repeated) that speak of the most large-scale and elevated of subjects: meaning of love, fate of and future of humanity, but that approach these subjects with simplest and lightest of touches. Berry is well known for his use of images nature all around us to convey atmosphere and meaning of his poems. This juxtaposition of large subjects and small details is reflected musical settings, which contain both large dramatic gestures and small simple details that adorn them. The composer admits that poems he chose are in some ways grandiose, and on more than one occasion, music comes perilously close to being overblown. On balance, however, this is a truly beautiful work. There are many cyclic elements music throughout work-recurring motifs, accompaniment patterns, and large musical themes-that tie piece together. In addition, one poem is repeated (2. Whatever Happens and 6. Will Not Leave are same poem) a position that turns cycle toward its conclusion. In last poem we find source of cycle tide: come at last to dark and enter . . . We come to me space between ourselves, narrow doorway, and pass through into land of wholly loved. The cycle opens a repeated B^sub 5^ right hand over a descending B^sub 2^, B[musical flat]^sub 2^, A^sub 2^, A[musical flat]^sub 2^, C^sub 2^, B^sub 2^, both single lines a slow syncopated pattern that suggests wakefulness of poet whose despair for world leads him to go and lie down where wood drake rests his beauty on water, and great heron feeds. The going out into the peace of wild things introduces a rather long musical theme left hand middle register of piano under a triplet broken chord pattern high treble register. Within this texture, voice paints text lyric lines. As poet rests the grace of world, music returns to beginning syncopated pattern that brackets calm chords middle voices. The second song, Whatever Happens, continues syncopated pattern chords, addition of two small sixteenth note triplet figures. The vocal line introduces a new somewhat melismatic melodic theme that cycles through several tonal areas and will be heard again later cycle. The third song, A Song of Thanks, marked Allegro, wild, abandon, is most nearly grandiose song of cycle and comes close to being over top. …