Spring and Fall

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CCCCCC" TEXT="#080000" background="13cfd5a3.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aaron Alon"><U><B><IMG SRC="3a27d140.png" border=0 width="125" height="20" ALT="Homepage" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>     |     </B><A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Compositions"><U><B>Recent compositions</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id163.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breaking the Silence"><U>Breaking the Silence</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id158.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All Rights Reserved"><U>All Rights Reserved</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id144.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dulce et Decorum Est"><U>Dulce et Decorum Est</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id104.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fairy Tales"><U>Fairy Tales</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id101.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hibakusha"><U>Hibakusha</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A View to a Death"><U>A View to a Death</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Peter Pan Suite"><U>Peter Pan Suite</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Córdoba"><U>Córdoba</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spell"><U>Spell</U></A>   |   <B>Spring and Fall</B>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fantasia for Piano"><U>Fantasia for Piano</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Silken Tent"><U>The Silken Tent</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#888888" TEXT="#080000" background="13dd2b03.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="694152e0.png" border=0 width="21" height="46" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> On <I>Spring & Fall...</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>“How perfect is the partnership of the cello and the voice to convey this music!”</B></div> <div> —Sherry Kloss</div> <div> "Upon Listening," <I>The Triangle</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="69f151a0.png" border=0 width="21" height="26" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Order the Score:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.lulu.com/content/378096" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://www.lulu.com/content/378096"><U><B><IMG SRC="6956e8e0.jpg" border=0 width="110" height="142" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#CCCCCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Spring and Fall</I></div> <div> <B>INSTRUMENTATION</B>: Voice, cello, and piano</div> <div> <B>DURATION</B>: Ca. 5½ minutes</div> <bR> <div> <I>Spring and Fall</I> is a setting of Hopkins' <A HREF="#text" TITLE="Spring and Fall"><U>poem</U></A> by the same title.  In the text, the speaker consoles Margaret, who is grieving her first loss (loss of innocence or possibly a death).  The speaker attempts a stoic veneer, but emotion seeps through; the speaker's own struggle is brought out in the rapidly shifting mood of the cello cadenza.  The speaker asks Margaret why she is weeping, concluding that she weeps for a universal human condition, something we all feel but can scarcely name: “It is the blight man was born for, / It is Margaret you mourn for.”  While both instruments engage in musical commentary on the text, the piano is more of a passive observer of the mood; the cello is more closely aligned to the voice and to the speaker's emotional struggle, as he tries to comfort Margaret, and ultimately, himself.  </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="403" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 ><NOBR><div> Now available on CD:</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Listen to the piece:</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 158 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa"><U><IMG SRC="54596980.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="152" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div>  <embed src="HTMLobj-1328/SpringAndFall.mp3" autostart="false" width="145" height="70">  </div> <div> <A HREF="#about_the_recording" TITLE="Spring and Fall"><U><I>About the recording</I></U></A></div> <div> (For slower connections, order</div> <div> the recording <A HREF="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa"><U>here</U></A>.)</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div>  <A NAME="text"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B><U>Text</U></B></div> <div> <I>Spring and Fall</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>To a young child</I></div> <bR> <div> Márgáret, are you grieving</div> <div> Over Goldengrove unleaving?</div> <div> Leáves, like the things of man, you</div> <div> With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?</div> <div> Ah! ás the heart grows older</div> <div> It will come to such sights colder</div> <div> By and by, nor spare a sigh</div> <div> Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;</div> <div> And yet you will weep and know why.</div> <div> Now no matter, child, the name:</div> <div> Sórrow's springs are the same.</div> <div> Nor mouth had, no nor mind expressed</div> <div> What heart heard of, ghost guessed:</div> <div> It ís the blight man was born for,</div> <div> It is Margaret you mourn for.</div> <div>                      —Gerard Manley Hopkins</div> <bR> <div> <U>Recording</U></div> <div> On the NACUSA label (<A HREF="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa" TARGET="_blank" TITLE="http://cdbaby.com/cd/nacusa"><U>NAC 001</U></A>) with Kimberly Lauritsen, Peter Myers, and Jacob Adams performing.</div> <div>  <A NAME="awards"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <U>Awards</U></div> <div> Winner of the 2004 Ohio Federation of Music Clubs</div> <div> Student Composers Contest, <I>First Place</I></div> <bR> <div> Winner of the 2004 international Tampa Bay Composers' Forum Prize</div> <div> for Excellence in Chamber Music Composition, <I>Second Place</I></div> <div>  <A NAME="performance_history"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <U>Performance History</U></div> <div> <A HREF="id127.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="December 11, 2003"><U>December 11, 2003</U></A></div> <div> Kimberly Lauritsen, mezzo-soprano; Peter Myers, cello; Jacob Adams, piano</div> <div> New Music Festival</div> <div> <I>Cleveland Institute of Music</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id123.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="June 24, 2004"><U>June 24, 2004</U></A></div> <div> Karen Adair, soprano; Theresa Villani, cello; Susan Bailey Robinson, piano</div> <div> Festival of Living Music</div> <div> <I>Palladium Theatre, St. Petersburg, Florida</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OFMC Performance"><U>October 8, 2004</U></A></div> <div> Kimberly Lauritsen, mezzo-soprano; Jesse Lewis, cello; Adam Whiting, piano</div> <div> Ohio Federation of Music Clubs' State Convention</div> <div> <I>Akron, Ohio</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Master of Music Recital"><U>November 21, 2004</U></A></div> <div> Kimberly Lauritsen, mezzo-soprano; Michael DeBruyn, cello; Adam Whiting, piano</div> <div> Master's Recital, Kulas Hall</div> <div> <I>Cleveland Institute of Music</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SCI Region VI Conference 2005"><U>February 25, 2005</U></A></div> <div> Melody Rich, mezzo-soprano; Ken Freudigman, cello; Geoffrey Waite, piano</div> <div> Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference</div> <div> <I>University of Texas at San Antonio</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="March 12, 2006"><U>March 12, 2006</U></A></div> <div> Andrea Trusty, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Dunn, cello; Kyle Evans, piano</div> <div> Sonus Chamber Music Society, Composers' Forum Concert</div> <div> <I>Houston, Texas</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id138.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="February 22, 2007"><U>February 22, 2007</U></A></div> <div> Andrea Trusty, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Dunn, cello; Kyle Evans, piano</div> <div> Fusion: A Feast for the Senses, Rice University's Shepherd School of Music</div> <div> <I>Houston, Texas</I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id166.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="July 12, 2008"><U>July 12, 2008</U></A></div> <div> Jamie Geiger, baritone; Andrew Dunn, cello; Julie Sacks, piano</div> <div> American Festival for the Arts Faculty Recital, Ovations Nightclub</div> <div> <I>Houston, Texas</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Other Reviews of </U><I><U>Spring and Fall</U></I></div> <div> "Contemporary music needs such pieces if it is to survive and give any pleasure at all to audiences."</div> <div> —Ohio Federation of Music Clubs, Adjudicator Comments</div> <bR> <div> "...well-crafted...most expressive in the plaintive cello part..."</div> <div> —<I>St. Petersburg Times, </I>June 25, 2004</div> <div>  <A NAME="about_the_recording"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <U>About the Recording</U></div> <div> This is a live recording of a performance in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, on December 11, 2003.  The mezzo-soprano is <B>Kimberly Lauritsen</B>; the cellist is<B> Peter Myers</B>; the pianist is <B>Jacob Adams</B>.  This recording is also available on the NACUSA label.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> All music ©2004 Aaron Alon (ASCAP).  All rights reserved.  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>