Originally, Matthew Culloton had asked me to write something for The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists for their May concert that had a "spring theme" to it. I had recently started reading the complete works of John Keats and found a great text that I really wanted to set but, once I started out, it seemed too short to just sit by itself. I asked Matt if I could write a companion piece and he graciously agreed.
I set out on a search for a text that might compliment the one I had already selected and, as this initial text was the seed that started the entire thing, it bears listing here:
Where be ye going, you Devon maid?
And what have ye there i’ the basket?
Ye tight little fairy, just fresh from the dairy,
Will ye give me some cream if I ask it?
I love your meads, and I love your flowers,
And I love your junkets mainly,
Bit ’hind the door I love kissing more,
O look not so disdainly.
I love your hills, and I love your dales,
And I love your flocks a-bleating—
But O, on the heather to lie together,
With both our hearts a-beating!
I’ll put your basket all safe in a nook,
And your shawl I hang up on this willow,
And we will sigh in the daisy’s eye
And kiss on a grass-green pillow.
This led to all sorts of ideas as to how to add to what I already had. Should it be another text on spring? Something to do with young love? Lust? Shepherding? Milking, maybe?
I had recently been listening to a lot of Michael Torke's works (his Book of Proverbs will remain one of my favorite choral/orchestral works of all time) and, although I still haven't had the chance to hear his popular orchestral color pieces yet (Green, Purple, Ash, Ecstatic Orange and Bright Blue Music) I had heard of them before. This led me to think of the title I had already chosen for the piece I was writing: A Grass-GREEN Pillow. Once I touched on that, I was off and running. The "madrigals" part of the title happened because I wanted the original piece to have that sort of feel: optimistic with a quicker tempo. I'm also a huge fan of Morten Lauridsen's Madrigali: Six Firesongs on Italian Renaissance Poems (they are his most eclectic cycle) so it seemed natural.
Since I started out with a John Keats text I decided to make his poetry the unifying factor for the song cycle as a whole. I read his collected works (it took forever!) and found 5 more texts that mentioned colors. Matt listened to my idea of a 6-movement choral song cycle and agreed to premiere the first 2 during their May concert.
Volume 1
1. Serpents in Red Roses Hissing
2. A Grass-Green Pillow
Since there really isn't a choir out there that commissions 25-minute choral cycles (and Matt eluded to performing another volume with The Singers next season) I decided to find another ensemble who might premiere at least another volume at some point. Enter Vicki Peters and The Summer Singers (who are not actually affiliated with The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists in any way other than sharing a few members). We had been talking about doing something together for a while and, when I asked her about premiering another 2 pieces, she jumped at the chance.
Volume 2
1. Purple-Stained Mouth
2. Yellow Brooms and Cold Mushrooms
This was the only volume that I knew would be performed "as is" in the final product since the purple one ends on the same unison note that the yellow one begins on. I chose the poetry for the Summer Singers' pieces because that choir loves to have a good time (both texts have to do with being drunk). I'm not saying they sit around and get loaded all the time but, because this choir meets during the summer, they have a generally more laid-back attitude than a lot of other ensembles and really enjoy each other's company. Add to that the fact that they put out a great sound and you have a possible Combustible Edison. Premiering these pieces was a whole lot of fun.
I had never intended all the volumes to be made up of a primary color and its opposite on the color wheel but, by the time Volume 2 was done, that was just how it turned out: red with green, purple with yellow and, for the final set, blue with orange.
Volume 3
1. Blue! 'Tis the Life of Heaven
2. Orange-Mounts of More Soft Ascent
The Singers performed the final volume last January along with a whole bunch of Minnesota music in honor of the state's 150th birthday and, last week, I got the recording. I could finally listen to all 6 pieces and see how they fit together with actual voices performing them. I had a few ideas but didn't actually settle on the final arrangement until very recently. That being said:
1. Serpents in Red Roses Hissing
2. Blue! 'Tis the Life of Heaven
3. Purple-Stained Mouth
4. Yellow Brooms and Cold Mushrooms
5. A Grass-Green Pillow
6. Orange-Mounts of More Soft Ascent
The set is 20 minutes and change, the keys flow pretty well...
1. A major
2. C major
3. D major
4. F major/A Lydian (E major)
5. E major
6. F# minor/B minor
...and the harmonic language is unified.
I'm really happy with all 6 pieces and I've already received orders for them from choirs around the country (including the world premiere of the entire set in a concert of my choral music with Vox Musica next month!). The orange piece was featured on Minnesota Public Radio and the green madrigal went on to win a choral award from the Cambridge Chamber Singers. In fact, they will be the first release from my new publishing company (which has yet to be named...I'm juggling a few options).
And that's that. 9 months of composition in the can.
Since you've made it this far I thought I might throw in some completely unnecessary pictures from the archives that have said colors in them and, in the spirit of this little screed, they're in the final order of Color Madrigals: Six Songs on Texts by John Keats. Enjoy!
For the curious...
Red: cherries from Pike's Place market in Seattle
Blue: Guster in performance at the MN Zoo
Purple: the house Chiante from a restaurant in Florence, Italy
Yellow: flowers on Culloden Moor near Inverness, Scotland
Green: a pool table in Ashland, Wisconsin
Orange: fruit in a punchbowl at a New Year's party
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