SKU: SU.32040040

Mezzo-Soprano & Piano Duration: 17' Composed: 2014 Published by: Amy Mills Music, LLC These three art songs can be performed independently or in sequence, at any time of the year. Stuart McAlpine’s profound text explores three men from the Christmas story, Joseph, the Inn-keeper, and Simeon. The creative and beautiful musical settings allow for powerfully dramatic interpretation and performance. To Joseph (who taught me how to look at art) The singer sings to Joseph, …you beheld a work of art, the making of a holy heart… and watching through Joseph’s eyes, when hung at last, its meaning was decreed. (4:40) The Inn-keeper’s Lament McAlpine brilliantly explores the possibility…what if the inn-keeper who turned away Mary & Joseph later became the inn-keeper who accepted the injured man brought in by the Good Samaritan? This powerfully dramatic piece depicts the Bethlehem inn-keeper’s bravado, Caeser’s decree was heaven sent, as guests raised glasses, I raised rent! But as the enormity of his mistake became apparent, in later years he bemoans, …if I’d known then what I know now… and finally declares at the end, I know now! (7:50) Simeon’s Last Prayer Simeon sings of being summoned to the temple where he holds his infant Savior. …then as grandfathers do, rejoiced as if he were my one-and-only too. As he leaves he whispers his final prayer, …dismiss your servant, to find You face-to-face. (4:30) Difficulty Level: Baritone/Mezzo-Soprano 6 (Professional) (Baritone Range: low A (optional low G) to high F# (optional high G,A) (Mezzo Range: low A (optional low G) to high G (optional high A) Piano 6 (Professional)(Same level as Debussy or Ravel) See also the version for Baritone Voice and Piano See composer website for audio sample.

SKU: HL.14027822

ISBN 9788759877579. English.

Roses Are Falling - 5 songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano by Bent Sorensen (1998) with lyrics by Selima Hill. Programme note: Roses are Falling had its origin in a small opera sketch I created with the English poet Selima Hill in just under a week during an opera workshop in the south of England in the autumn of 1998. After the workshop I was asked to make a song cycle out of the material. The opera sketch begins with a woman and a man sitting alone in a room. They have drawn aside from the rest of a large party and they have just decided to finish their love affair. The other guests at the party come into the room, and amidst the crowd the man leaves the room. The women is leftthere alone among all these inconsequential people: alone, singing her own thoughts and torment. The first three songs were all taken from this part. In the fourth song, which was written late, the text is taken from one of Selima Hill's poetry collections. The fifth and last song comes partly from the beginning of the opera, where the man and the women sit alone (she knows what is coming), partly from the end of the story, where despite the gab in time and space they touch each other with their dreams. His voice is heard as a whisper that merges with hers: He takes me in his arms like the moon that turns and take the evening from the sun. Roses are Falling was premiered in 2000 in London by Lore Lixenberg and Domenic Saunders.