Six Haiku

Work Overview

Instrumentation: baritone and piano
Commission: Vox Series
Premiere: May 25, 2004, Symphony Space, NY, as part of the Vox Series sponsored by New York City Opera and American Opera Projects
Duration: 10 minutes

Program Note

How beautiful and elegant the classic haiku form is – to capture an entire image or feeling in three short, succinct lines. For me, the challenge in setting haiku to music was to limit the musical thoughts to express the spirit of the poem. So, many of the songs may have only one essential gesture or motive, one that expresses the core meaning of the words. In doing so, the music may have certain Asian elements, such as in the sparse texture of the music as well as in the scales used, but the blend of Eastern and Western elements was of secondary concern. Of greater concern was an accurate representation of the image or feeling.

In the first haiku, the depiction of birdsong is important, in particular the loneliness of an orphaned sparrow. In the second, the urgency of the poet wanting to play with the butterfly as well as the swirling motions of the butterfly is illustrated through the running sixteenths and the staccato bass notes in the piano. The word “penetrates” in the third song is the climax of this poem, and is set up with the sparseness and quietude of the opening measures. Water and moonlight are the main elements in the fourth song, illustrated with shimmering sixteenths in the piano and a smooth long melodic line in the voice. The fifth song paints the picture of a frog making croaking sounds with the staccato melody of the voice and the grace note figures in the piano. The last song has the colorful words “bloomed” and “vanish” as the peonies have a wonderful effect on the poet, illustrated with lush harmonies.