Five Summer Songs

Mezzo-soprano with Piano or with Chamber Orchestra [Harp, piano (doubling celesta), percussion (one player), and strings]

Five songs on poems of Emily Dickinson. The original version (1972) was composed for medium voice and piano (E. C. Schirmer Music Company #0161). The Chamber Orchestra arrangement was commissioned by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony.

Poems included:

  1. New Feet Within My Garden Go
  2. South Winds Jostle Them
  3. I Know a Place
  4. To Make a Prairie
  5. The One That Could Repeat the Summer Day.
The cover of American Music for Flute, Voice, and Strings

American Music for Flute, Voice, and Strings: A collection of American music by various composers. Includes Ronald Perera’s Five Summer Songs performed by soprano Carole Wilson. On Albany Records, Troy519.

Available on:
Albany Records
iTunes

Composed:1972/1993
Duration:12:00
Publisher:E. C. Schirmer Music Company
Catalog Number(s):Medium Voice, Piano Version, 0161
Mezzo-Soprano and Chamber Orchestra Version, 4096
Orchestra score and parts on rental.

Reviews:

Rec. lyric medium voice (b-f#2); 12:00; titles are: New Feet Within My Garden Go; South Winds Jostle Them; I Know a Place; To Make a Prairie; The One That Could Repeat the Summer Day; best kept as a set; excellent variety of mood and color; atonal, but with a strong feeling of tonality throughout; gentle dissonances; not difficult for the voice, but the colorful piano writing is intricate and requires dexterity; elegant, lyrical, compelling songs.

A Singer’s Guide to the American Art Song 1870-1980by Victoria Etnier Villamil (The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Metuchen, NJ & London, 1993)

Perera’s thoroughly pleasing and admirably written set of songs would grace any singer’s repertory. The unadorned style and clarity of the musical language make the set an attractive proposition for a beginner to the field. The “Five Summer Songs” could be put with other Emily Dickinson settings. They would not seem out of place in a traditional recital program because of their unpretentious and direct appeal. The set would form a good foil for late Romantic lieder with more exotic textures.

New Vocal Repertory by Jane Manning (Taplinger, 1987)

With detailed instructions for both the singer and accompanist these songs are wonderful for an accomplished, artistic, sensitive singer.

NATS Bulletin 5/78

Five Summer Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson cover

Score Samples:

PIANO/VOCAL SCORE
CHAMBER SCORE
PURCHASE

Audio Excerpt:

5. “The One that Could Repeat the Summer Day,” Carole Wilson, soprano, Budapest Camerata, Adrian Sunshine, conductor