Scores

1. "Winter Morning Walks" (piano/vocal version)

Score & Parts, Downloadable

Duration 27:00 $165.00

Instrumentation

nstrumentation: Piano/Vocal

The offer contains

  • Downloadable PDF piano/vocal score (8.5X11 pages if printed)
  • Downloadable score includes performance notes on preparing piano mutes and explanations of some specific notation used in the score
  • 9 Streamed videos of Maria talking about each song give additional performance insight
  • Streamed video of Maria talking further about preparing the piano mutes

Description

I’ve had many requests over the years for a piano/vocal version of my song cycle, "Winter Morning Walks," composed to the stunning poetry of Pulitzer Prize-winning and U.S. Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser, with poems selected from his book of the same title. I’m happy to say that the piano/vocal version is now complete, including some transcription of pianist, Frank Kimbrough’s, elegant improvisations from our original multiple Grammy-winning recording with Dawn Upshaw. Sopranos familiar with the music may know that there are a few spots in the song cycle that go quite low in tessitura, so we’ve created alternative notes that present a good option. Another performance limitation in the past has been the “improvised" piano part from the original score. This version of these songs no longer requires an improvising pianist. While it’s nice to perform the entire song cycle, any individual song or songs can be performed in recital as well. The poetry is very stirring, and hopefully this music will be a wonderful addition to people’s solo recital repertoire.

Songs included in "Winter Morning Walks (piano/vocal version)"

  1. Perfectly Still This Solstice Morning
  2. When I Switched On a Light
  3. Walking by Flashlight
  4. I Saw a Dust Devil This Morning
  5. My Wife and I Walk the Cold Road
  6. All Night, In Gusty Winds
  7. Our Finch Feeder
  8. Spring, the Sky Rippled with Geese
  9. How Important It Must Be