I'll Tell You A Story, then... - High voice
by Elizabeth Alexander
High Voice - Sheet Music

Vocal Solo (High voice and piano) - Moderate

SKU: SF.SEA-069-02

Composed by Elizabeth Alexander. Art Song. With Text language: English. Duration 7 minutes. Published by Seafarer Press (SF.SEA-069-02).

Text by Nancy White.

In Nancy White's compelling poem, "Just Once I Want to Write a Gentle Thing," the search for an elusive scent leads to a new understanding about what it is to be fully human. Elizabeth Alexander's intimate setting of this earthy poem brings tenderness and depth to each facet of this scent - as well as its surprising revelation.

Composer's Note: If one of the purposes of art is to help us embrace life in the fullest way possible, then Nancy White's warm and earthy poem succeeds on every level. As I set her words to music, I revisited them day after day, mining them for their deepest qualities. My "mission," as I thought of it, was to bring tenderness and visceralness to each individual strand of this poem's mysterious "scent." What a nourishing process that was for me! A final, telling detail. White's original poem goes by a different title, one which hints at the suffering we create whenever we reject parts of our true human nature: "Just Once I Want to Write a Gentle Thing.".