Recueillement, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, violoncello, percussion and piano (2016) 
Lara Troyer, soprano 
Denise Howell, mezzo-soprano
Tiago Delgado, clarinet
Brian Bennett, percussion
Brian Klickman, cello 
Yuka Nakayama-Lewicki, piano
Kent State Stark Main Hall Auditorium 
April 17th 2017

Baudleaire is one of my favorite poets. Like all his poems, Recueillement has an inherent musicality made of beautiful sounds and rhythms. Recueillement is translated as “meditation” but the original French word implies a sense of gathering within oneself. 
The poem is a sonnet and is in the standard 4 4 3 3 line structure. In my setting, each stanza is associated with a pedal note and a primary interval for the voices. In the first stanza there is a D pedal and the major second permeates the vocal lines. For the remainder of the stanzas the pairings are: pedal B and an interval of a minor third, Eb and major third, Eb and minor second. The D pedal returns at the end to complete the circle. 
I did not attempt to translate the text into music (it already is music!) but rather deconstruct the text and have it observed, interpreted, commented and critiqued by the singers and instrumentalists. 
This is a reworking of a setting I did of this poem two years ago for voice, piano and percussion. What started out being a simple re-orchestration turned out to be an extensive rewrite.

Recueillement, for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Clarinet, Cello, Piano and Percussion

Sebastian Birch