Gwyneth Walker

Lovesongs

for Narrator and Piano (2011)

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Download a PDF file of the piano score of this composition.


A multitude of amorous expressions are explored in Lovesongs. These range from love while traveling, to love at home, and love at the dinner table!

"Youthful Love" is based on the poem, "Recuerdo," by Edna St. Vincent Millay. The young lovers are riding on the Staten Island Ferry. "We were very tired - we were very merry. We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry." The boat rocks. The couple gaze in each other's eyes. They stay up all night. Very tired...very merry... and very young!

"A Special Love" has formed between the narrator and a beloved pet (portrayed by the pianist). The dear creature does not "obtrude" and does not need to be entertained. So well behaved! [The text is by H. D. Thoreau.]

Epicurean delights are the topic for "The Food of Love." The text is the well-known poem by Colonel Henry Heveningham, "If Music be the Food of Love." Cream puffs, Valentine's hearts and music fill the stage. It would seem that the narrator cannot decide which pleasure is the greatest. [These are indeed overwhelming choices!] Therefore, tossing caution (and props) to the winds, the solution is to celebrate everything!

Notes by the composer