In the Solitude of Sounds (1994) Joel Phillip Friedman

Joel Phillip Friedman

In the Solitude of Sounds For soprano and piano (1994)

www.joelfriedman.com

Joel Phillip Friedman

In the Solitude of Sounds For soprano and piano (1994)

www.joelfriedman.com

In the Solitude of Sounds (1994) Soprano and piano Duration: Ca. 8:30 minutes Premiere April 9, 1995, Susan Narucki, soprano; Allison Voth, piano. Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, New York City

This lovely poem was written by Bela-Lisa Friedman, who happens to be both a talented writer and my sister. When she showed it to me I immediately felt it needed music. In the Solitude of Sounds was originally the opening of a larger song cycle One Into One. It is often performed as a separate song as well. The elaborate and virtuosic piano part is an attempt to capture the shifting emotions bubbling under the surface.

In the Solitude of Sounds (Bela-Lisa Friedman) I was sitting all alone very late at night silence was my company darkness was my light And in the solitude of sounds of sleepers all around I was trying to find the words to explain to you how I felt inside how my life became my guide how my the joy and pain ebbed like the dark ocean’s tide and I couldn’t hear your answers or see your face or feel your heart

I was sitting all alone very late at night silence was my company darkness was my light And in the solitude of sounds of sleepers all around I was trying to find the words to tell to you how I felt inside when all at once the warmth of love took me like a tide and it didn’t really matter what you said, or what I said I couldn’t hear your answers For I felt them in my heart.

I can only fantasize what you feel or what you think I am often mesmerized by visions of your dark, dark, brown eyes while walking down a crowded street or having soundly fallen asleep or listening to an elusive beat of another’s beating heart

“In the Solitude of Sounds.” Copyright © 1988 Bela-Lisa Friedman Used by permission of the author