14 Songs on American Poetry for Voice and Piano Cover Image

14 Songs on American Poetry for Voice and Piano: Voice & Piano

$32.95 USD
$32.95 USD
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14 Songs on American Poetry for Voice and Piano Cover Image
14 Songs on American Poetry for Voice and Piano: Voice & Piano

14 Songs on American Poetry for Voice and Piano: Voice & Piano

By Ned Rorem

Item: 98-EP66583
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Description

Words and music are inextricably linked for Ned Rorem. Time Magazine has called him "the world's best composer of art songs." A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music this volume presents a collection of 14 songs on different American poets for voice and piano. Contents:

  • As Adam Early in the Morning (Walt Whitman)
  • Early in the Morning (Robert Hillyer)
  • I am Rose (Gertrude Stein)
  • Memory (Theodore Roethke)
  • My Papa's Waltz (Theodore Roethke)
  • Night Crow (Theodore Roethke)
  • O You Whom I Often and Silently Come (Walt Whitman)
  • Root Cellar (Theodore Roethke)
  • Sally's Smile (Paul Goodman)
  • See How They Love Me (Howard Moss)
  • Snake (Theodore Roethke)
  • Such Beauty As Hurts to Behold (Paul Goodman)
  • The Waking (Theodore Roethke)
  • Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night (Walt Whitman)

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Additional Details
Series: Edition Peters
Publisher: Edition Peters
ISBN10: 0-30-072448-9
ISBN13: 979-0-30-072448-5
SKU: 98-EP66583

More about this title

About the Composer: Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem has spent more than seven decades composing at the intersection of poetry and music, earning the Pulitzer Prize and widespread recognition for his mastery of the art song form. His gift lies in his ability to find the emotional architecture within a text and build it into melody, creating settings where the voice line feels inevitable rather than imposed.

Why we love this

This collection captures Rorem's gift for matching compositional sophistication with genuine lyricism, giving singers material that demands musical maturity without sacrificing accessibility. The poems themselves are canonical American voices, so singers connect immediately to the text; the music honors rather than obscures that connection. You get a curated journey through Roethke, Whitman, and others, each setting fresh and individually characterized.

What to expect

These songs inhabit a space between classical restraint and modernist introspection. Some are intimate and conversational; others build to moments of genuine ache. Roethke's poems, which dominate the collection, bring an almost tactile quality to nature and memory, and Rorem's music captures that sensory vividness without ever becoming sentimental.

Who it's for

Advanced high school singers, college-level voice students, and accomplished amateurs who want to deepen their work in the American art song repertoire. Rorem's settings assume both vocal maturity and comfort with twentieth-century harmonic language.

How to get the most out of it

  • Approach the piano part as essential counterpoint rather than accompaniment; Rorem often voices the emotional undercurrent there, and singers who listen to it will find their phrasing naturally shaped.
  • Let the text dictate your vocal color. These poems have distinct emotional registers, and moving through all 14 in sequence asks you to shift registers constantly; that variety is the whole point.
  • Pay attention to Rorem's harmonic language in rehearsal. His chromaticism and unexpected resolutions create emotional weight; rushing through them flattens the impact.

How to use it

Use this collection as the centerpiece of a voice recital or as a curated sequence within a larger program exploring American poetry in music. The variety of mood and text means you can program selections strategically, grouping them thematically or using them to create emotional contrast between other works.

Skills your students will build

  • Interpreting twentieth-century harmonic language and chromatic voice-leading
  • Balancing lyrical melody with complex pianistic accompaniment
  • Sustaining characterization across a complete recital or thematic sequence
  • Understanding the relationship between poetic structure and musical phrase
  • Navigating varied vocal ranges and tessituras within a single collection

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