2003 | soprano/piano; tenor/piano OR soprano or tenor with chamber orchestra.
Poem by Dana Gioia (b.1950).
Song 2 of cycle Becoming a Redwood.
The premiere recording is on the Albany release Becoming a Redwood — Songs of Lori Laitman, with soprano Barbara Quintiliani and composer/pianist Lori Laitman. To purchase, please click here.
Click here to watch Lori Laitman and soprano Jennifer Holbrook perform “Pentecost” from The Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, 2010.
A Note about Tempo Alterations:
In my original, I used “push” and “relax” throughout to indicate how flexible I envisioned the tempo of this song. Now, in 2019, I am revising the markings, and instead of such detailed (and possibly confusing) markings, I am simply putting “rubato, extremely expressive, with a lot of push and relax throughout” — and trust that the performers will do whatever is necessary for an emotional reading.
NEW: Some alternate notes for mm. 43-45: in mm. 43-44, one can sing an Eb (3rd down) instead of the high Gs, but keep the low G. And in m. 45, the top notes can similarly be taken down a 3rd: so that the notes would be: Eb – low G (as written) – Eb – G (instead of high Bb) – Eb. Hope this is helpful to anyone who might need help.
