THE SONGS OF LORI LAITMAN (Current as of August 2010)

 

The primary distributor of all of Lori Laitman's music is Classical Vocal Reprints (CVR), headed by Glendower Jones. He can be reached at 1-800-298-7474, 1-479-442-2595, or through his website, www.classicalvocalrep.com

 

All songs are by published by ENCHANTED KNICKERS MUSIC, with the exception of I Never Saw Another Butterfly, which is published by ARSIS PRESS. 

 

The Metropolitan Tower and Other Songs (1991-1992) (soprano/piano) 

6 settings of Sara Teasdale, approximately 12 minutes long.

 

The Metropolitan Tower; A Winter Night; Old Tunes: The Strong House; The Hour; To A Loose Woman

 

Dreaming (1991) (soprano; soprano and baritone; soprano and mezzo; SATB versions)

Humorous encore song, about 2 minutes long. Words and music by Lori Laitman.

 

The Love Poems of Marichiko (1993, rev. 1994)  (soprano/cello)  

Poems by Kenneth Rexroth, approximately 12 minutes long.

 

I Sit at my desk; If I Thought; Oh the Anguish; You Ask Me; Autumn; Just Us

 

Days and Nights (1995) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Browning, Dickinson, Rossetti, Bourdillon, about 12.5 minutes total.

 

Along with Me; They Might Not Need Me; The Night Has A Thousand Eyes; Over the Fence; Song; Wild Nights

 

Echo (1995) (baritone, soprano or mezzo with piano versions)

Poem by Christina Rossetti, approximately 3.5 minutes long.

The Ballad Singer (1995) (baritone/piano) 

Poem by Thomas Hardy, approximately 2 minutes in length.

These two songs can be sung as a set by baritone.

 

Thumbelina Songs (1989, rev. 1995) (SATB with piano)

Lyrics by Lori Laitman and Wendy-Marie Goodman, based on the fairytale.

 

A Tale to Tell, Alone, Fine Family, I’m Falling in Love, King Song, I am the Mole, Wish Song, My Son, Thumbelina, Wedding Day (not yet published)

 

I Never Saw Another Butterfly (1996)  (soprano/alto saxophone; soprano/clarinet or soprano/bassoon)

Poems by children who were killed in the Holocaust: Pavel Friedman; Koleba (Kosek, Löwy, Bachner); anonymous and Franta Bass. Published by Arsis Press, approximately 15 minutes long.

 

The Butterfly; Yes, That’s The Way Things Are; Birdsong; The Garden; Man Proposes, God Disposes; The Old House

 

Plums (1996)  (soprano/piano)

Two settings of William Carlos Williams, about 2 minutes total.

 

To a Poor Old Woman, I Just Wanted to Say

 

Four Dickinson Songs (1996) (soprano/piano or mezzo-soprano/piano version)

Poems by Emily Dickinson, approximately 9 minutes total.

 

Will There Really Be A Morning?, I’m Nobody, She Died, If I...

 

Between the Bliss and Me (1997)   (soprano/piano)

Poems by Emily Dickinson, 5 minutes long.

 

I gained it so, The Book, I could not prove

 

Mystery (1998)  (baritone/piano or mezzo-soprano/piano)

Poems by Sara Teasdale, about 10 minutes in length.

 

Nightfall, Spray, The Kiss, The Mystery, The Rose

 

 

Daughters (1998) (mezzo-soprano and piano trio)

Poems by Anne Ranasinghe and Karen Gershon, about 18 minutes long.

 

Mascot and Symbol; Stella Remembered; A Letter to My Daughter

 

Holocaust 1944 (1996, rev. 1998) (baritone/doublebass or baritone/cello)

Poems by Ficowski, Vogel, Rosewicz, Gershon and Ranasinghe, about 28 minutes long.

 

I did not manage to save; How can I see you, love; Both your Mothers; What Luck; Massacre of the Boys; Race; Holocaust 1944

 

Homeless (1998) (mezzo-soprano/piano or baritone/piano)

Poem by Michael Flack, about 3 1/2 minutes long.

 

Sunflowers (1999) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Mary Oliver, 14 minutes total.

 

The Sunflowers, Dreams, Sunrise

 

I am in Need of Music (1999 (Duet: soprano/baritone/piano or soprano/mezzo with piano) Poem by Elizabeth Bishop, 4 minutes.

 

Men with Small Heads (2000) (countertenor, mezzo-soprano or baritone/piano) 

Poems by Thomas Lux, approximately 11 minutes.

 

Men with Small Heads; Refrigerator, 1957; A Small Tin Parrot Pin; Snake Lake

 

The song “Men with Small Heads” won “Best American Art Song” in the 2004 American Art Song Competition sponsored by the San Francisco Song Festival.

 

This Space (2000, rev. 2005) (bass/piano, also mezzo/piano version) 

Poem by Thomas Lux, 2 minutes long.

 

Armgart (2000) (soprano/piano) 

Poem by George Eliot, 3 minutes long. Winner of The Boston Art Song Competition, 2000.

One or Two Things (2001) (mezzo- soprano/piano) 

Poem by  Mary Oliver, about 5 minutes total.

 

Don’t Bother Me; The God of Dirt; One or Two Things

 

Round and Round (2001) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Anne Spencer Lindbergh, about 9 minutes for the cycle.

 

Earlier this Afternoon; Little Plump Person; I Contrived A Poem; Bar the Door; Little Anne; Round and Round

 

The Years (2001) (soprano or mezzo-soprano/piano)

Poems by Sara Teasdale., about 9 minutes.

 

Jewels; To-Night; Barter; Faults; The Years

 

Living in the Body (2001) (soprano or mezzo-soprano/alto saxophone)

Poems by Joyce Sutphen, about 15 minutes for the cycle.

 

Burning the Woods of my Childhood; Living in the Body; Not for Burning; Lost at Table; Bring on the Rain; Crossroads

 

And I Will Bring Them (2001, rev. 2003, 2009) (soprano/piano)

Text from the Bible, Isaiah 56:7

 

Within These Spaces (2002) (soprano/piano) 

Poems by Marjorie Saiser, Janet Coleman and Judith Sornberger, approx. 16 minutes.

 

I Grow to be My Grandmother; My Mother Has Recovered; Letter to my Daughter; The China Cup; Pioneer Child’s Doll

 

Little Elegy (2002) (soprano/piano) 

Poem by Elinor Wylie. 1 minute.

 

Long Pond Revisited (2002)  (baritone or mezzo-soprano/cello)

Poems by C.G.R. Shepard, 15.5  minutes total.

 

I Looked for Reasons; The Pond Seems Smaller; Late in the Day; Days Turn; Long Pond Revisited.

 

Two Dickinson Songs (2002) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Emily Dickinson, about 4 minutes long.

 

Good Morning Midnight; Wider than the Sky

 

Lines Written at the Falls (2002) (soprano/piano)

Poem by Thomas Moore, and the song is about 5.5 minutes long.

 

Captivity (2002, revised in 2004, 2007 and 2008) (soprano/trumpet) 

Originally 5 settings: The Minks; The Struggle; Books; The Polishers of Brass; The Weakness

 

Revised again in 2007 into 2 separate cycles. Published in June 2008, as Captivity, with 3 songs: The Polishers of Brass, Books and The Weakness. The other 2 songs will be reworked with piano and published at a later date.

 

Fathers (2002, rev.2003, rev. 2010) (baritone/piano trio or mezzo-soprano with piano trio. There are also baritone and mezzo versions with flute instead of violin.) 

 

Baritone version premiered by Music of Remembrance, Benaroya Hall, April 2003 and mezzo version premiered by Music of Remembrance in March 2010. Poems by Ranasinghe and Vogel.  Cycle is about 15 minutes long.

 

Fragment 1; You, Father; Fragment 2; Last Night I Dreamt; fragment 3; I Saw My Father Drowning; Don’t Cry. To be published in summer 2010.

 

Early Snow (2003) (soprano/piano)  

Poems by Mary Oliver, approximately 9 minutes in length.

 

Last Night the Rain Spoke to me; Blue Iris; Early Snow

 

The Throwback (2003) (baritone/piano)

 

5 settings of Paul Muldoon, about 8.5 minutes total.

 

Cradle Song for Asher; The Ancestor; Redknots; The Breather; The Throwback

 

One Bee And Revery (2003) (soprano/piano) 

Three Dickinson settings, 4 minutes total.

 

The Butterfly upon; Hope is a Strange Invention; To Make A Prairie

 

Sleep, Little Child (2003) (Any voice type and piano)

Short lullaby, words by Lori Laitman, about 1:40.

 

Fresh Patterns (2003) (2 sopranos and piano)

Texts from Emily Dickinson and Annie Finch, about 10 minutes long.

Commissioned by Steven Jordheim for Alisa Jordheim.

 

It’s All I Have to Bring Today (Dickinson, soprano and piano); A Letter for Emily Dickinson (Finch, soprano and piano); Fresh Patterns (soprano, soprano and piano/Dickinson and Finch)

 

Becoming A Redwood (2003) (high voice and piano or high voice with chamber orchestra).  Poems by Dana Gioia, cycle runs about 14 minutes.

 

The Song (after Rilke); Pentecost; Curriculum Vitae; Becoming A Redwood

 

Money (2003) (any voice and piano/also duet setting for soprano/baritone/piano)

Poem by Dana Gioia, about 2 minutes for the song.

 

The Apple Orchard (2004) (Versions for tenor, baritone or soprano with piano)

Poem by Dana Gioia, about 2.5 minutes total.

 

Being Happy (2004) (baritone/piano)

Poem by Dana Gioia, 2 minutes long.

 

Swimmers on the Shore (2004) (baritone/piano)

Poem by David Mason, 4:15 minutes in length.

Commissioned by The West Chester University Poetry Conference.

 

If I...  choral version.  Arrangement by Bruce Rosenblum, from the last song in my Four Dickinson Songs.

 

Come to Me in Dreams  (2004), A One-Act Chamber Opera

 

50 minute opera created from my songs by Cleveland Opera’s David Bamberger. Premiered at The Ohio Theatre June 9-12. 2004, Cleveland, Ohio. Cast:  Sanford Sylvan, Fenlon Lamb, Megan Tillman and Sara Renea Rucker; instrumentalists Judith Ryder, Maximilian Dimoff and Paul Cohen.

 

I Did Not Manage to Save; Faults; Yes, That’s the Way Things Are; To-Night; Birdsong; Massacre of the Boys; Wild Nights; The Butterfly; The Years; Holocaust, 1944; Man Proposes, God Disposes; Jewels; The Garden; Both Your Mothers; Echo.

 

My Garden (2004) (soprano/piano)

Poem by Adelaide Ayer Kelley, 1:45 in length.

 

On A Photograph (2004)  (Solo version for all voice types; duet versions for mezzo/baritone and mezzo/bass) 

Poem by John Wood, song approximately 5 minutes.

 

Premiered February 14, 2005, Banners Series, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA with soprano Carol Lines and pianist Lori Laitman.

 

The Seed of Dream (2004) (baritone or mezzo-soprano/cello/piano)

Poems by Vilna Ghetto survivor Abraham Sutzkever, with translations by C.K. Williams and Leonard Wolf.

Commissioned by Music of Remembrance, Seattle, WA.  18 minutes for the cycle.

 

I Lie in This Coffin; A Load of Shoes; To My Child; Beneath the Whiteness of Your Stars; No Sad Songs, Please

 

Five Lovers (2004) (soprano/piano) 

Poems by Jama Jandrokovic, cycle length is approximately 8 minutes.

Commissioned by Jama Jandrokovic.

 

On Meeting Again; Lovely in His Bones; This Morning; Second Date; July, 95 degrees

 

Equations of the Light (2005) (high voice and piano or duet versions for either soprano/baritone or soprano/tenor with piano)

Poem by Dana Gioia. Duet about 4.5 minutes.

Commissioned by The West Chester University Poetry Conference 2005.

 

The Perfected Life (2006) (versions for all voice types with piano)

Poems by Emily Dickinson, about 4 minutes total.

 

An Amethyst Remembrance; Dear March; The Perfected Life

 

River of Horses (2006) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Baudelaire, James Wright, James Dickey, and a Traditional Navajo poem. The cycle is pproximately 10 minutes long.

Commissioned by Jean del Santo, University of Minnesota. (not yet published/premiered)

 

My Hand Forever; A Blessing; A Birth; Sioux Warrior Song; Two Horses

 

Orange Afternoon Lover (2006) (soprano/piano, also mezzo-soprano/piano version)

Poems by Margaret Atwood, about 13 minutes long.

Jointly commissioned by The Howard Hanson Fund of The Eastman School and The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, and written expressly for soprano Eileen Strempel and pianist Sylvie Beaudette.  This recording released spring 2010 on the Centaur Label: (In)Habitation: Settings of Margaret Atwood Poetry by American Women Composers.

 

Against Still Life; I Was Reading A Scientific Article; I Am Sitting on the Edge

 

Eloise at Yaddo (2006) (soprano/piano)

Poem by David Yezzi, 2.5 minutes long.

 

Full Moon and Light Hearted William: Two William Carlos Williams Songs (1997, rev.2007) (tenor/piano)

Poems by William Carlos Williams.  In honor of Richard Miller, tenor and master teacher.

 

The Blood Jet (2006) (soprano/piano)

Poems by Sylvia Plath, approximately 10 minutes for the cycle.

Commissioned by Dr. Adelaide Whitaker. Published in June 2008.

 

Morning Song; The Rival; Kindness; Balloons

 

The Silver Swan (2007) (Two versions — one for mezzo-soprano and piano; one for mezzo-soprano, piano and flute, although can also work for soprano, tenor or baritone)

Poem by Orlando Gibbons, just over 3 minutes long.

For Dr. Carol Kimball. Published in June 2008.

 

On The Green Trail (2007) (Two versions: one for soprano/piano; one for tenor/piano)

Poems by Jeff Gundy, approximately 8 minutes total.

Commissioned by Dr. Michelle Latour, published in June 2008.

 

On The Green Trail; Looking at My Hands; Small Night Song from Oneonta

 

Journey (2008) (For alto-saxophone and piano) 

This is truly a “song without words” as the permission for the poem was removed after the setting was done. (Long story that really can’t be told!)

 

A Wild Sostenuto (2008) (Available in 2 keys — one for high voice, one for low)

To the poem “For C.” by Richard Wilbur, about 4.5 minutes long.

Commissioned by the 2008 West Chester University Poetry Conference. The baritone version (with piano) was published in June 2008.

 

The Scarlet Letter (2008) (3 lead roles for soprano, tenor and baritone; 3 minor roles for mezzo-soprano, tenor and baritone, small chorus (at least 8), non speaking child’s role and chamber orchestra)

 

Full length opera in 2 Acts, to libretto by poet David Mason. Approximately 2 hours long, in 2 Acts (6 scenes). For more information, please visit www.scarletletteropera.com

 

 

There are several stand-alone arias, to be published by summer 2010:

 

“Beyond All Price” — Hester’s Lullaby (soprano)

“This Canopy of Trees” — another aria for Hester (soprano)

“Now Truly Know Me” — Chillingworth’s lament (baritone)

“Our Nights” — (tenor)

“Ye People of New England” — (tenor)

“Come To The Devil’s Fire” – the Witch’s aria (mezzo-soprano)

“Our Eden Here is Love” — (soprano and tenor duet)

 

Act I, Scene 2 from the opera is also published separately, as a duet for baritone and soprano.

 

The choral sections of the opera will also be published independently.

 

Dear Edna (2009) (soprano and piano)

Poems by Jennifer Reeser, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Diane Thiel and A.E. Stallings.

Commissioned by soprano Hope Hudson, about 8 minutes long.

 

On An Album of Millay’s Recordings; What Lips My Lips Have Kissed; Editorial Suggestive (from a Twenty-First Century Editor); After Reading the Biography, Savage Beauty.

 

Vedem: A Holocaust Oratorio and

Vedem: The Song Cycle (2010)

 

This oratorio was commissioned by Music of Remembrance and premiered at Benaroya Recital Hall on May 10, 2010 in Seattle, WA. It is scored for boychoir, mezzo-soprano and tenor soloists, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. There is a separate song-cycle component, scored for the soloists with clarinet and piano accompaniment. 

The libretto intertwines the original poetry secretly published by the boys of Terezin with David Mason’s brilliant depiction of their lives. The poems are by Petr Ginz, Hanus Hachenburg, Zdenek Ornest, and Josef Taussig.

 

The oratorio is about one hour long and contains the following songs:

 

The Transports; Memories of Prague; Home Number One; Five; Just A Little Warmth; In Terezin The Mind Was Free; Thoughts: Like Leaves About To Fall; Love In The Floodgates; We Were Alive, Approximately; A Model Ghetto; Farewell To Summer; We Were No Different Than You.

 

The song cycle is about 15 minutes in length and contains the following songs:

 

Memories of Prague; Five; Thoughts; Love In The Floodgates; Farewell To Summer.

 

The Act (2010) (soprano, tenor and piano)

Poem by H.L. Hix. This is a theatre piece, and can be considered a very short opera. The work is approximately 5 minutes long and should be staged. This intriguing poem is about a circus knife thrower and his wife.

 

This song was commissioned by The Sorel Organization as part of a grant to New Triad of Collaborative Arts for their retrospective of my music at SongFest 2010 in Malibu, CA. The work premiered June 19, 2010 at Pepperdine University in Malibu, with tenor Blaise Pascal, soprano Andrea Leyton-Mange and pianist Andrew Rosenblum.

 

Todesfuge (2010) (baritone and cello)

Poem by Paul Celan, composed at the request of baritone Wolfgang Holzmair.

This is my first dual language setting and the translation I use is by John Felstiner. The settings are slightly different, in order to best accommodate the prosody of each language.

 

 

IN PROGRESS:

 

New Dickinson cycle to commemorate my parents’ 70^th wedding anniversary. Two settings done:  Some Keep The Sabbath (2009) and I Stepped From Plank to Plank (2010).

 

SOON TO BE:

 

A Choral Work for Randolph College

in Lynchburg, VA, to premiere in April 2011.

 

 

 

Ludlow

 

David Mason and I are planning our second opera together, based on his verse-novel Ludlow. In 2009, David received the $40,000 Thatcher Hoffman Smith Award for Creativity in Motion, awarded by The University of Oklahoma. The prize was given to David specifically to create the libretto for our 2^nd opera together. I am looking for funding for the music portion.