Three Songs by Billy Strayhorn
for Soprano
and Orchestra
Arranged by Lior Rosner
Three Songs by Billy Strayhorn
for Soprano and Orchestra
TABLE OF CONTENTS :
Conductor Note: Pieces can be performed individually or in any order or grouping as needed.
1. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing - 1
2. Lotus Blossom - 17
3. Lush Life - 24
Three Songs by Billy Strayhorn
for Soprano and Orchestra
1. A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing
(Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn)
A flower is a lovesome thing
A luscious, living, lovesome thing
A daffodil, a rose
No matter where it grows
Is such a lovely lovesome thing
A flower is the heart of spring
That makes the rolling hillsides sing
The gentle winds that blow
Blow gently for they know
A flower is a lovesome thing
Playing in the breeze
Swaying with the trees
In the silent night
Or in the morning light
Such a miracle
Azaleas drinking pale moonbeams
Gardenias floating through daydreams
Wherever it may grow
No matter whеre you go
A flower is a lovesomе thing
2. Lotus Blossom
(Lyrics by Roger Schore and Carol Sloane)
Wondering by the water, gazing at lotus blossoms
Choosing a pair, with one for my hair, an August or two ago
Drinking the wine of summer, clinging to one another
Stars soft and pale we followed a trail, to where the azaleas grow
Hand in hand our world apart, our silver moon appears,
Stones we found and kept are still, my loving souvenirs
Autumn now finds me wondering, Where is the summer hiding
Words we once spoke, like Autumn’s blue smoke have faded into a haze
Gone is the girl and gone is the boy, and gone lotus blossom days.
3. Lush Life
(Lyrics by Billy Strayhorn)
I used to visit all the very gay places
Those come-what-may places Where one relaxes on the axis
Of the wheel of life
To get the feel of life
From jazz and cocktails
The gals (girls) I knew had sad and sullen gray faces With distingué traces That used to be there
You could see where They’d been washed away By too many through the day
Twelve o’clock tales
Then you came along With your siren song To tempt me to madness I thought for awhile That your poignant smile Was tinged with the sadness Of a great love for me I guess (Ah, yes,) I was wrong Again, I was wrong
Life is lonely again
And only last year everything seemed so sure Now life is awful again
A troughful of hearts could only be a bore
A week in Paris might (will) ease the bite of it
All I care is to smile in spite of it
I’ll forget you I will While yet you are still Burning inside my brain
Romance is mush
Stifling those who strive I’ll live a lush life
In some small dive
And there I’ll be While I rot with the rest
Of those whose lives are lonely, too
Three Songs by Billy Strayhorn
for Soprano and Orchestra
Music by BILLY STRAYHORN
Arranged by Lior Rosner
I
NSTRUMENTATION
:
FLUTE 1-2
OBOE
ENGLISH HORN
B b CLARINET 1-2
B b BASS CLARINET
BASSOON 1-2
F HORN 1-2-3
PERCUSSION 1: Crotales
Suspended Cymbal Mark Tree Triangle
PERCUSSION 2: Vibraphone
CELESTA
HARP
SOPRANO
STRINGS (minimum size):
10 - VIOLIN I
8 - VIOLIN II
6 - VIOLA
6 - CELLO
3 - CONTRABASS
Instrumentation Note: Movement 2 (Lotus Blossom) requires only Harp and Strings.
Percussion1: Crotales
Percussion2: Vibraphone
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1.AFlowerIsALovesomeThing
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LyricsbyRogerSchoreandCarolSloane
2.LotusBlossom
Percussion1:
Percussion2: