The Kiss (2011)
Details:
Duration: 13 mins
Instrumentation: high voice, 2 vln, vla, vlc
Premiere: Premiered on April 30, 2011 at the Setnor Auditorium in Syracuse, NY.
Program Notes:
The Kiss is a setting of three poems by Stephen Dunn. Imitating the structure of Classical opera, the first two movements act as recitative, setting up the final, aria-like, movement. The text is taken from Mr. Dunn’s 2006 collection, Everything Else in the World, and tells the story of two young lovers, from the beginning of their relationship to their eventual marriage.
The third movement, written first, was completed in the summer of 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sierra Fox and Jon English asked me to finish the other two movements for them. While I always intended for this to be a three movement work, it took a year and a half before I was able to finish it. After a series of delays, I began the opening two movements in the fall of 2010 and they were completed in the winter of 2011 in Syracuse, New York.