Spring is like a perhaps hand: Piano Vocal

Argento's setting of E.E. Cummings' delicate poem catches something essential about spring's tentative arrival: fragile, tactile, not quite certain. The accompaniment does the heavy lifting so the singer can float the melody with simplicity, which paradoxically requires tremendous control. It's the kind of piece that reveals a student's actual musicianship rather than hiding it.

Tentative and tactile, like watching something unfurl without knowing if it will bloom. The writing captures spring's hesitation; there's lightness throughout but no cheerfulness, only observation. It feels intimate, as though overheard.

Mezzo sopranos and baritones developing a contemporary art song repertoire. This piece works equally well for students encountering 20th century compositional language and for recitalists seeking modern work that feels both intellectually substantive and emotionally direct.

• Allow the opening phrase to breathe without rushing. The piano sets a contemplative tempo; match its unhurried pace rather than pushing forward.
• Shape the text as prose first. Cummings' syntax is unconventional; let that guide your phrasing rather than forcing regular phrase lengths.
• Balance transparency in the middle register. Both voice and piano occupy similar tessitura; clarity comes from precise articulation, not volume.
• Treat the final gesture with restraint. The ending mirrors the opening; resist the urge to resolve with finality. Let it settle instead.

Pair this with art songs from the same period (Rorem, Barber, Copland) for a recital devoted to mid-20th century American vocal writing. It also serves well as an introduction to Cummings' poetry for singers encountering his work alongside the music.

• Setting contemporary poetry with irregular syntax to music
• Sustaining legit vocal tone in a narrow tessitura
• Balancing transparency when voice and piano occupy the same register
• Interpreting modernist text through musical phrasing