Teasdale Songbook (2008)

"A Forest that is a Desert" was commissioned by Choral Arts Initiative for the 2019 PREMIERE|Project Festival. The work sets three texts written by Kendra Preston Leonard specifically for this composition.

When I first received the CAI commission, I looked through a number of Kendra’s text and was drawn to her lovely work “My mother is a poem by Yeats,” which expresses the profound grief of watching a loved one succumb to dementia. Full of ideas, I texted to ask if she would be open to me setting it. She was thrilled - but another composer already had secured the rights to set the poem!

I resigned myself to choosing another text, but couldn’t get the first poem of my head enough to find something that resonated strongly. After some brainstorming, Kendra generously agreed to write a companion text exploring similar themes. Within a couple days, she sent three new poems written in memory of her mother, hoping that one might be a good fit. I loved all three and was particularly drawn to them as a set.

The resulting work, "A Forest that is a Desert", uses traditional choral writing, coloristic vocal effects, and indeterminacy to bring to life Kendra’s evocative words. The music is intended to reflect the mental effects of dementia on those who suffer from it and also express the complex emotions felt by loved ones watching that decline.

This performance is by the Ohio University Singers at the Society of Composers Inc. Region V Conference in Nov. 2023.

Society of Composers, Inc. Region V Conference 2023

A Forest That Is A Desert

Sleeping Standing Up was written for the CUNY Contemporary Music Ensemble in the spring of 2012. It was inspired by the poem of the same name by Elizabeth Bishop. Bishop’s brief four stanzas depict a surreal dreamworld filled with fleeting scenes that lead, smoothly but incongruously, one to the next, ending up with a sense of nostalgic longing (tempered by an undertone of cynicism) for a goal never quite reached.  The work uses a similar instrumentation to Messiaen's "Oiseaux Exotiques".

Sleeping Standing Up

The Tenderness, Light as Water was commissioned by Stephanie Patterson and Holly Roadfeldt as a duo for bassoon and piano.  Both Stephanie and Holly were looking for a lyrical work that would feature the two instruments in an equal partnership.  With this goal in mind—and some musical inspiration from the bassoon solo that opens Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as well as various solo piano works I had heard performed by Holly (and other pianists) around the time I started composing—I wrote this duet.  When I sent them the finished piece, Holly suggested I create a solo piano version as well, so the work now exists as both a duet and a solo.  

The title comes from a line in Pablo Neruda’s gorgeous lament “Song of Despair.”  Though the poem as whole expresses the narrator’s despair at the loss of a woman he loved, this particular line is one of poignant remembrance.  It captures the love between the two using Neruda’s characteristically vivid imagery.  I happened to read the poem while I was sketching ideas for the piece, and the line seemed to capture the emotion of the music beautifully.

The solo piano version was created for Holly, and this recording features her performing.

Lafayette College Recital 4-18-19

The Tenderness, Light as Water

Jessica Rudman’s music has been presented across the USA and abroad on festivals such as the Omaha Symphony New Music Symposium, Composers Now, June in Buffalo, and the IAWM International Congress. Honors include winning the 2013 Boston Metro Opera’s Advocacy Award, the 2012 NewMusic@ECU Orchestra Composition Competition, and the 2012 College Music Society National Convention Student Composition Award.  Ms. Rudman has taught at Central Connecticut State University, The Hartt School, and Baruch College.  She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate Center, as an Enhanced Chancellor’s Fellow.

The Tenderness, Light as Water

Jessica Rudman

Related tracks