So Free Am I : Seven Settings of Poems by Women (Soprano Voice and Piano) - Ben Moore b. 1960 (Catalog No. CVR 4315)
(Commissioned by the Marilyn Home Foundation, the premiere...)
Commissioned by the Marilyn Home Foundation, the premiere performance in 2006 at Carnegie Hall featured soprano Monica Yunus and pianist Brian Zeger.
The cycle title quotes the first line of -Mutta- from writings of Indian Buddhist nuns of the sixth century B.C. I have set two of these verses to form the first and last songs in the cycle. The musical figure for the text -So free am I- has also served as a unifying device throughout the piece. In my online search for permission to use the texts I was dismayed to discover that Ms. Roy, as of May 2005, was residing in an undisclosed location in Bangladesh, evidently fearing for her life. The situation, a consequence of opposition to her feminist writings, was a powerful reminder of the continuing injustice that women suffer - and certainly ironic for a translator of So Free Am I.
In several of my settings I have utilized distinct melodic material. In - Interlude - there is a recurring, somewhat fractured waltz, evoking a safe domestic ideal undermined by an anxious boredom. In -Orinda Upon Little Hector Philips- a tender lullaby grows into an expression of inconsolable grief:, and in -Nervous Prostration- the simple, jaunty tune is set against dissonances to emphasize the wit as well as the despair of a woman trapped in a disastrous marriage. My setting of Muriel Rukeysers -The Poem as Mask- is not as obviously melodic as others in the cycle but contains many melodic fragments, and it may be the most potent dramatically. While strongly feminist, it expresses a universal passion for truth. In the final song, -Mettika-, I have written a spare and serene melody to mirror the poems very moving expression of relief at the end of a difficult life.
The cycle is written for high soprano and requires a focused, committed performer. The songs may also be performed separately or in smaller groupings.
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