Song Cycle
Soprano, Baritone, Piano, and Wood Quintet
Tittl: Dream cycle
Composer: Jeremi Edwards
Year: 2021
Duration 25:00 min
Dream Cycle 2021 Program Notes
This song cycle is a collection of songs developed out of a story my grandmother told me one Sunday afternoon. She explained she was digging through some old things and found an English assignment my mom created while she was in high school. She was assigned to pick a theme and find poems that fit that theme. On top of finding poems, she needed to also write her own poems using the theme she had pick to include in the collection. Out of this collection I chose six poems to set, five by a number of different poets and one that my mom wrote. Her theme for this project was on the topic of Dreams, which is why my title of this cycle is Dream Cycle. As a collection, I envision, these songs depicting different dreams a protagonist is having during an evening. The use of both Soprano and Baritone is to convey an internal dialogue within the protagonist that occurs between the different movements, culminating in movement six.
Movement 1 is depicting the pleases the protagonist is traveling while dreaming.
Movement 2 is depicting the protagonist watching someone sleeping next to them, the protagonist is letting them know they will protect them.
Movement 3 is depicting our protagonist dreaming about a broken heat, remembering losing someone they loved.
Movement 4 is depicting the protagonist dreaming about a battle which they hope was a dream.
Movement 5 is depicting the protagonist reflecting on their life and proclaiming their goals for the future.
Movement 6 is depicting the protagonist dreaming about manifesting those ideas and goals into their life.
© 2021 Jeremi Edwards
All Rights Reserved
Dream Cycle movement 1
Movement I
for Soprano, Flute and Piano
"As I dream of a more distant day"
Jamey Wright, soprano
Lea Baumert, flute
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
Day dreams by Harry Behn
In some far other time than here
Are forest full of dappled deer
Where wondering minstrel winds awake
Shadows across a misty lake,
Shadowy ripples rippling away
As I dream of a still more distant day
Where garden greens greener than my own
Grow round a mossy tower of stone,
Where prancing steeds and knights of old
Wear coats of armor bright with gold,
And children, as still they do,
Remembering what they never knew.
Dream Cycle Movement 2
Movement 2
for Baritone, Bassoon and Piano
"The Dream Keeper"
Alan Bordeaux, baritone
Erica Haas, bassoon
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
The Dream Keeper by Langston Hughes
The Dreamer O Thou who giving helm and sword,
Gav’st to the rusting rain,
And starry dark’s ass tender dews,
To blunt and stain:
Out of the battle I am sped,
Unharmed, yet stricken sore:
A living shape amid whispering shade
On Leith’s shore.
No trophy in my hands I bring,
To this sad, sighing stream,
The neighing and trumps and cries
Were but a dream.
Traitor to life, of life, of life of life betrayed
O, of thy mercy deep,
A dream my all, thy all I ask Is sleep.
Dream Cycle Movement 3
Movement 3
for Soprano, Oboe and Piano
"Dreams in the Dusk"
Jamey Wright, soprano
Hunter Collins, oboe
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
Dreams in The Dusk by Carl Sandburg
Dreams in the dusk.
Only dreams closing the day
And with the days close going back
To the gray things, the dark things.
The far, deep things of dreamland.
Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,
Only the old remembered pictures
Of lost days when the day’s loss
Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.
Tears and loss and broken dreams
May find your heart at dusk.
Dream Cycle Movement 4
Movement 4
for Baritone, F horn and Piano
The Dreamer
Alan Bordeaux, baritone
Danielle York, horn
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
The Dreamer by Walter de la Mare
O Thou who giving helm and sword,
Gav’st to the rusting rain,
And starry dark’s ass tender dews,
To blunt and stain:
Out of the battle I am sped,
Unharmed, yet stricken sore:
A living shape amid whispering shade
On Leith’s shore.
No trophy in my hands I bring,
To this sad, sighing stream,
The neighing and trumps and cries
Were but a dream.
Traitor to life, of life, of life of life betrayed
O, of thy mercy deep,
A dream my all, thy all I ask
Is sleep.
Dream Cycle Movement 5
Movement 5
for Soprano, Clarinet and Piano
"Dreams of the Future"
Jamey Wright, soprano
Thomas Kim, clarinet
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
Dreams of the Future by Elena Thomas
My dreams of the future
Are to be happy,
To succeed and achieve,
My dreams of the future
My dreams of the future
Are to live an enjoyable life,
To love and share with others,
My dreams of the future.
My dreams of the future
Are to have great achievements,
And live in the footsteps of God,
My dreams of the future.
Dream Cycle Movement 6
Movement 6
for Soprano, Bariton, Piano and Woodwind Quintet
"Dream Variation"
Jamey Wright, soprano
Alan Bordeaux, baritone
Lea Baumert, flute
Hunter Collins, oboe
Thomas Kim, clarinet
Danielle York, horn
Erica Haas, bassoon
Patricia Bretas, piano
Jeremi Edwards, conductor
Dream Variation by Langston Hughes
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark Like me.
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening . . .
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.
