Duration: 3:00
Medium voice & piano (also available for high voice).
Commissioned by the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts, for the 2016 Marlene M. Helm Alumni Award recipient, Matthew Wallace. In honor of his work as Producing Artistic Director of Kentucky Shakespeare, his contribution to the community and dedication to enriching the state’s artistic future.
Premiered on July 9, 2016 by Elizabeth Batton Sorensen, mezzo-soprano and David George, piano.
Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze,
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
Killing care and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.
- William Shakespeare (from Henry VIII)
