Confound Winter is a short song for three voices, setting poetry by Tess Kincaid.  It was composed for the Juice Vocal Trio and their 'Snow Queens' programme; Juice gave the first performance in London in December 2016.

Confound Winter

from Wallace Stevens' poem 'The Emperor of Ice-Cream' (1922):

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45234/the-emperor-of-ice-cream

The Emperor of Ice-Cream (Wallace Stevens)

JT Welsch

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