Basically a passacaglia with a Phrygian feel. The text is adapted from the Dirge from Cymbeline (Shakespeare). The song itself has gone on to enjoy several independent lives, most notably as the Introit and Kyrie for a Requiem Mass (in collaboration with my good friend Troy).

Threnody © 1993, rev. 1999

Shakespeare, of course. The original version was for voice and cello; since pianists are more common than cellists, I decided it was worth the effort of revising. Hopefully there's a better balance between the tracks on this one; I spent some time learning how to use the mixer in Sibelius to adjust relative volumes. Still don't like the vocal sound, though.

Sonnet XXIX © 1994, rev. 2012

I mentioned that this song started off for voice and cello, and that's what I'd planned to upload. However, last night an idea came floating out of the Scotch, and I tried replacing the cello with a bass clarinet (Sibelius took it on itself to replace the "voice" with piano, which certainly helps the balance. I like it. In one of those odd twists of life, it's dedicated to one Christopher, and this version was inspired by another. Thank you both.

Sonnet 29, original version # 2 ©1994, rev. 2013

Text by Rainer Maria Rilke. I'd known the text for years; and first used it as part of the Agnus dei of the Requiem. That still needs revising, but because I had more to say about the words, this song came into being.

Possibility © 2010, rev. 2012

In 2009, while I was coaching an early music ensemble, Di Brandt sent me a bunch of poems she was working on, and asked what I thought I might be able to do with them musically. In relatively short order, I had 3 songs for voice and oboe, 3 more for voice and cello, one for SATB choir, and this one for double SATB choir. Because part of the inspiration for the poems was the Mennonite hymnal of 1942, I used the original hymn titles, and the Bach chorales as jumping off points for the choral pieces. This one is a miniature Passion, with choir 1 "telling the story" and choir 2 adding commentary. Things fragment in the middle (imagine any mob scene), and both choirs unite in my version of the chorale for the end.

O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden © 2009

Fantasia on "The Dargason"

From the same Collegium year as "The Dargason." This piece started off as a keyboard piece by William Byrd. It works quite well on clarinets, showing off the chalumeau register to great advantage. There are probably places where the entire score could transpose up an octave (the 16th-note passages near the middle, for instance). It seemed reasonable to add an optional bell part. :)

The Bells, for clarinet choir

for flute, voice, and piano. This is another piece that's been in the works for a long time. It was on the way to a recital that the idea of expanding the voice-piano setting to include a flute came to me (therefore I've dedicated it to the flautist in question!).  A couple of weeks later, it's finally in a form I like.

The poem is one of the odes from Bliss Carmen's collection "Sappho"; rather than the number he assigned it, I've given it a real title.

For flute, voice, and piano. Like several of the other songs I've posted here, this one has been hanging around for several years. It was just a few weeks ago, on the way to a recital, that the idea of expanding it to chamber music occurred to me, resulting in my actually finishing it, and dedicating it to the flautist I was going to hear that night.

The poem is a slightly abridged ode from a collection titled "Sappho"; I gave it a real title, rather than the Roman numeral Carmen used.

for flute, voice, and piano, © 2013. This is another song that's been "in progress" for years. On my way to a student recital, it suddenly occurred to me to expand it into chamber music rather than just voice/piano. Seemed reasonable to dedicate it to the flautist whose recital it was, so here you go, James! (The poem is one of a whole set Bliss Carmen wrote; I've given it a title, instead of just a number, and abridged it slightly.)

Sappho Remembers

I teach recorder, harpsichord, theory, and history in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Conservatory of Music, and pinch-hit on bassoon with the Brandon University orchestra now and then. Composition seemed like a logical next step after I'd said everything I wanted to express in poetry (though all my music seems to feature voice). Every so often, I actually interact with other people - besides my students - and share parts of my life with them.

Brent Legg 1