Dreamsongs
An opportunity to commission new works for upper voices on the poetry of Hilda Conkling.
At a glance:
Participating choirs/conductors will have the opportunity to select a poem from Hilda Conkling’s Poems by a Little Girl to be the basis of their commission.
All participating choirs will be granted free access to the full collection of Dreamsongs following the premiere process.
Divisi is limited to two-part upper voices, with or without piano. Upper voice choirs of all types are eligible to participate.
Please email me at thomasrosinlavoy@gmail.com or fill out the form below to request more information or express your interest in the Dreamsongs project. Please note that this form is not binding in any way.
About this project…
Every once in a while I come across a poet whose creative voice speaks to me with such immediacy that I have to stop whatever I happen to be doing at the time and do a deep dive into that persons life and work. During my PhD in Scotland, it was the work of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore that captured my imagination and led me to compose Endless. Two years ago I discovered the peculiar stylings of Nancy Luce of West Tisbury, MA which led to the creation of In Heaven, Hereafter. I have learned over the course of these projects that there is literally a physical feeling when these poetic discoveries are made - a sort of adrenaline rush combined with wonder and contentment.
About a month ago, I was searching for an unrelated commission text when I stumbled upon a gem of English verse that once again gave me that visceral reaction: the work of child poet Hilda Conkling. Hilda composed the vast majority of her poetry between the ages of four and nine. Her mother, Grace Conkling, was a poet in her own right and recognized Hilda’s propensity for creative thought at an early age. As Hilda improvised short poems, Grace took to writing them down and then asking Hilda to correct any deviations from her original words. By the time Hilda turned nine years old, this remarkable mother-daughter team had produced a volume of moving and descriptive poetry. It was published in 1920 under the title Poems by a Little Girl, and included a glowing preface by Amy Lowell.
Portrait of Hilda Conkling
Water
The world turns softly
Not to spill its lakes and rivers.
The water is held in its arms
And the sky is held in the water.
What is water,
That pours silver,
And can hold the sky?
- Hilda Conkling
After discovering Hilda’s poetry, I knew immediately that I wanted this to be my next large-scale project. The question was, what form should it take? I was recently introduced to Friday Afternoons, a collection of twelve songs by Benjamin Britten, by my friend Matt Koller of the City of Palms Youth Choir. These songs have been staples of treble choir repertoire for many years, and for good reason; they are expertly crafted in addition to being a joy to sing. I decided in the end that instead of offering a commission consortium for a single large piece based on Hilda Conkling’s work, I would offer choirs the opportunity to commission songs based on her individual poems. The poems will be selected from Poems by a Little Girl by the choirs/conductors themselves, allowing each group to take part in the shaping of their piece. Upon completion, the songs will be collected into a book of Dreamsongs for upper voices.
As each piece will be for one or two-part upper voices and piano, I will be able to offer these commissions at a much lower rate than my normal commission fee. All participating choirs will be granted free access to the full collection of Dreamsongs when the premiere process has been completed. For the project to be viable, I need at least three choirs to participate - I will cap the number of commissions at twelve, the same number of songs in Friday Afternoons, but it is not necessary for all twelve slots to be filled for me to be able to move forward.
If you would like to express interest in the Dreamsongs project, or request more information such as the associated commission fee, please email me at thomasrosinlavoy@gmail.com or fill out the form above.