Commissioned by and dedicated, with deepest respect, to Emily Marvosh
The Ceiling, the Treetops, the Sky alto and piano (2018)
It was the accident, possibly, of his long legs, which were apt to stretch themselves; of his straight hair and his well-shaped head, never, the latter, neatly smooth; and apt into the bargain, at the time of quite other calls upon it, to throw itself suddenly back and supported behind by his uplifed arms and interlocked hands, place him for unconcionable periods of time in communion with the ceiling, the treetops, the sky. He was in short visibly absent-minded, irregularly clever, liable to drop what was near and to take up what was far. —Henry James, Wings of the Dove (1902)
Scott Ordway ( b. 1984 )
Largo espressivo ( e = 44 )
4 &8 Œ
Alto
Piano
{
pp seeing beyond
‰ ‰ b œ œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ bœ œ The
. . . . . . œ ? 4 ‰ bœ œ œœœbœœ 8 J pp
& Œ
{
poco rit.
The
? b˙ b ˙˙
the
tree- tops,
the
œ™bœ œ sky.
bœœ œœ
a tempo
œ
ceil - ing,
-œ œœ œ bbœœœ
bbb œœœ
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
ppp con ped.
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œ
tree - tops,
bbb œœœ
œœ œœ bb œœœ œœ œœ
œ bbœœœ
r ≈ œj œ œ - -
-˙ ˙
˙˙
‰ bœ œ the
œœ œ nœœ œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œœ œœ
œœ œ œœ œœ
the sky.
pp
bœœ b˙˙ b œ bb œœ œ- ˙-
‰ bœ œ bœthe
-œ œ
p
bœœ œœ
œœœ
the sky.
œœ œ œœbœ bb œœœ œ œœ œ bb œ-œœœ œ œ bœ
‰ bœ œ œ -
≈ . . . . . . . ˙ œ œ bœ œ œ b œ œ ? ˙
Pno.
ceil- ing,
bbb œœœ
? 4 b˙ 8b˙ b b ˙˙
7
A.
‰
Text by the composer after Henry James
œœ œœ
˙˙ ˙
œ- ™
bœ œ
b œœœ
œœ
sky.
p
œœ bœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ œœ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ