Do You Love Me?

Clear and Sweet Is My Soul

This piece may be performed as part of a collection of four Whitman settings under the master title, This Is Thy Hour. Understated elegance is the hallmark of this movement: the music reflects the simplicity of the text. A legato, unison line is introduced which is treated in canon in the middle section, which is eventually restated in the original key. Duration: 2:45

All People that on Earth do Dwell

Dusk : From I Will Sing To The Stars

Written for the Jacksonville Children's Chorus, this SSAA setting of a Sara Teasdale text begins in unison. This verse structure is followed by a refrain and a canon between the two voices on the text, "the air is blue and sweet." The contrasting middle section allows the voices to become the focal point on the text, "let me sing like birds, sing before night." The third movement of the three-movement work, "I Will Sing to the Stars." Duration 3:40

In Whom All Things from Two Pickthall Songs

The second piece of "Two Pickthall Songs' suggests that whatever is in our hearts may remain there so that we are never truly parted. The music has three main sections which correspond to the three main images of the poem: “Love, in whom all things are-” “Love, in whom all things nest-” and “Love, in whom all things hide.” The main melodic idea is sustained while the harmonies meander. This is to represent the notion that events in life can be unexpected- things change, and we must forge a new path. The opening line of the text, “Love, in whom all things are,” is repeated to act as a “cleansing” phrase to end the piece, and to return us to the idea that we can find love andcompassion in everything. All we have to do is to look. Duration: 2:30