2003

Early Snow

Composed by Lori Laitman
Text by Mary Oliver

Song Collection

Early Snow is a song cycle by Lori Laitman setting three poems of Mary Oliver. The composer's note and the audio clip of "Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me" are made possible through a collaboration between the Hampsong Foundation and SongFest. In this audio clip, the performers are Anne Jennifer Nash, soprano, and Matthew Brower, piano, and the performance took place at Pepperdine University at SongFest 2010.

Listen

“Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me” (from “Early Snow”)
Anne Jennifer Nash (soprano) & Matthew Brower (piano)3:16

Lori Laitman

Composer

Mary Oliver

Poet(s)/Writer(s)

2010

Date

Pepperdine University

Location

Collaboration between the Hampsong Foundation and SongFest

Composer's Note

“I composed Early Snow between November 2002 and March 2003. The cycle was commissioned by Dr. Adelaide Whitaker for soprano Jennifer Check. Its base is the poetry of Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Oliver (1935-), whose three poems are reflections about nature. My goal in all settings is the primacy of the text. This means that meters shift constantly to follow the natural rhythms of the poem, melodies are structured to emphasize the most important words in a phrase, tempos are flexible and harmonies change to color the emotional content. In this way, every word in every poem is bound inextricably to the music.”

–Lori Laitman

Songs

1. Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
2. Blue Iris
3. Early Snow

Songs

Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me2003 · Early SnowLori LaitmanMary Oliver

Related Information

SongFest Website

songfest.us

Sheet Music

Early Snow

Lori Laitman
1. Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
2. Blue Iris
3. Early Snow
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