What The Living Do
$5.00
My setting of Marie Howe’s incredibly rich and powerful What The Living Do is a big song, more miniature “operatic monodrama” than art song. The subject, how everyday mundane, even annoying tasks and sensations – dishes waiting to be washed, buying a hairbrush, spilling coffee on your sleeve – are painfully poignant reminders of what only the living can, demands this. Commissioned, performed, and recorded by Susan Narucki.
Description
Marie Howe’s incredibly rich and powerful What The Living Do has both textual length and a dramatic weight that led me to create more miniature “operatic monodrama” than art song. My setting is a “big” song, but then the subject matter demands such. Everyday mundane, even annoying tasks and sensations – dishes waiting to be washed, buying a hairbrush, spilling coffee on your sleeve – become painfully poignant reminders as these are things that only the living do. The poem was written about the death of Marie Howe’s brother Johnny. The song was commissioned by Susan Narucki who has performed it numerous times with pianist Alan Feinberg at such venues as the 92nd St. Y in New York and the Monadnock Festival. Their performance is available on the Americus CD Extraordinary Vistas. Originally What The Living Do was the second song of a larger cycle (One Into One) but these days I prefer it to be performed alone. For more info about this work click here.
Score is available as a downloadable PDF file.
