Joel Phillip Friedman The Angel
From William Blake’s
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
For mezzo-soprano and instrumental sextet (flute, clarinet, percussion, violin, cello, piano)
2024
Joel Phillip Friedman The Angel
From William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience For mezzo-soprano and instrumental sextet (flute, clarinet, percussion, violin, cello, piano)
To my wife, Jenny Bilfield
The Angel I dreamt a dream! What can it mean? And that I was a maiden Queen Guarded by an Angel mild: Witless woe was ne’er beguiled!
And I wept both night and day, And he wiped my tears away; And I wept both day and night, And hid from him my heart’s delight.
So he took his wings, and fled; Then the morn blushed rosy red. I dried my tears, and armed my fears With ten-thousand shields and spears.
Soon my Angel came again; I was armed, he came in vain; For the time of youth was fled, And grey hairs were on my head.
© 2024
Joel Phillip Friedman
www.joelfriedman.com
Instrumentation
Mezzo-soprano
Flute
Clarinet in Bb Percussion*
Violin
Cello
Piano
* 1 player: vibraphone, 1 medium woodblock, 1 high triangle, drum set [The minimum requirement is trap set: 2 suspended cymbals (ride & crash), snare, and kick drum. Adding toms for a full set is preferred.]
Performance notes:
Percussion the basic groove of the 1st section of the song (mm. 4-18) is notated. They player should free to ad lib to fill in the texture in a stylistically consistent way, including the suggested short fills. That’s where the addition of 1-3 toms would be useful. Listen, dig in, tastefully play the song. It’s not a drum solo.
Voice the vocal part is written for a musical theater voice: chest and mix Acting beats are suggested to guide the story telling process.
Program note:
William Blake’s poetry often dwells in the realm of nuance, as multiple, even conflicting interpretations abound. When I chose his poem The Angel from the Songs Of Experience portion of his work I knew I would be writing for a musical theater singer. This informed my decision to make strong interpretative choices to create a clearly defined character an actor would enjoy tackling. In the beginning of the poem an idealistic young girl is in the glow of wonderment as she dreams of being a “maiden queen.” From that chaste pop song simplicity, the character begins to experience life’s challenges and complexity. Was her Angel over-protective, even misleading? Did the Angel abandon her in her time of need? Was she misleading her Angel? The question of whether she sacrificed her youth, desires, and freedom leads to further complexity anger, yet independence as she matures. The song ends with a stark world-weariness. The drum part that had been light and innocent returns as an incomplete, faint funereal echo of the song’s opening. For better and worse, we’ve traced a path from innocence to experience. This William Blake project was the brainchild of composer Stephen Gorbos. He designed it for our whole composition department students and faculty alike at Catholic University. I am very proud to have joined!
JoelPhillipFriedman
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