SOLO VOCAL MUSIC by Neil Buckland
Daphne Restored
for soprano, clarinet in Bb and viola (text: Gwen Harwood) (16’45) – CONTACT
In the Greek myth of Daphne, a nymph is punished by the gods by being transformed into a laurel tree. Gwen Harwood’s poem vividly expresses the feeling of entrapment and longing for release from a place or a form or a life that is alien to one’s nature. “Never will flesh and bone ascend / in myriad green significance, / never with bird or raindrop dance / light-veined on shifting planes of wind… / … …still hope in love’s brief peace to drown / the whispering of the sleepless mind / that frames all words and cannot find / one word to call the lightning down.”
Longer excerpts from Daphne Restored can be heard on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Half-Heard
(text: Christopher Koch) (10′), two versions:
– for medium/high voice (range: e’ – e”) , melody instrument and harp/piano/lute/etc. – CONTACT
– for medium/high voice and harp – CONTACT
Christopher Koch’s poem Half-Heard powerfully evokes the sense of something uncanny in the atmosphere in Tasmania, where he grew up. “On the road through the hills I thought I heard it, / Something moving, coming with evening, / In its slow warm breathing through the paddock-land… /… … And one by one the evening waves caressed the sullen sand. …”The part for melody instrument in the first version above can be played on violin, flute, alto (treble) recorder, clarinet, or a non-western instrument such as shakuhachi or xiao. The other instrumental part may be played on harp, piano, lute, koto, zheng, qin, konghou or a similar non-western instrument (provided they have the requisite range), or could potentially be arranged for standard and bass guitars. The accompaniment in the second version is specifically written for harp.
A full performance of the second version of Half-Heard can be heard (and seen) here. Simulated excerpts from the first version of Half-Heard can be heard on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
I have felt a presence
(text: William Wordsworth) (5’45), two versions:
– for soprano, clarinet in Bb and string orchestra – CONTACT
– for soprano, clarinet in A and organ – CONTACT
“I have felt a presence that disturbs me with… joy … A motion and a spirit, that impels all thinking things, all objects of all thought, and rolls through all things” (from Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, 1798). The music is my intuitive response to Wordsworth’s words. A video of a simulated performance of the first version of ‘I have felt a presence’, with the full lyrics as subtitles, can be seen and heard here.
The Lay of the Last Survivor
for soprano and harp or lute (text: from Beowulf, anon. 9th C. Anglo-Saxon, trans. David Evans) (10’30) – CONTACT
A setting of the great lament from Beowulf, in the vivid English translation by the late David R Evans: “Hold now, earth, now heroes may not, the possessions of men!… / Death in battle has taken off, savage deadly evil, every man of my people … /… … the coat of mail, which in battle survived / the bite of iron weapons over the shattering of shields, / crumbles with the man. …” (The full text, in David’s calligraphy and in parallel with the original Old English, can be seen here: The Lay of the Last Survivor (translation, calligraphy).) The accompaniment may be played on any kind of harp (modern concert, historical or folk, gut- or metal-strung), lute or theorbo (minimum range: D to b′′).
(This song is musically related to the instrumental suite Fame, Gold and Shadow (see CHAMBER MUSIC) and can be performed either on its own or together with the Suite.)
The Lay of the Last Survivor can be heard, with the full lyrics as subtitles, on the Listen page of this website and on YouTube (both a live performance and a simulated one), and (the music only) on Apple Music/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Music, Spotify, Deezer, QQ Music, Kuwo and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
The Lost Man
for soprano, clarinet in Bb, viola and harp (or piano) (the clarinet and/or viola may optionally be omitted) (text: Judith Wright) (10’45) – CONTACT
“To reach the pool you must go through the rain-forest – / through the bewildering midsummer of darkness / lit with ancient fern, / laced with poison and thorn. /… … you must find beneath you / that last and faceless pool, and fall. And falling / find between breath and death / the sun by which you live.” (The parts for clarinet and viola are independent and enrich the texture and harmony of this song, but it can be performed with either or both omitted if desired.)
The Lost Man can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website and on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Of Joy and Sorrow
for soprano, solo violin and small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, 1 or 2 horns in F, solo violin, strings) (text: Kahlil Gibran) (4’30) – CONTACT
One of three settings of words of Kahlil Gibran. The others are Of Love for soprano solo, SATB choir and orchestra, and Of Beauty for SATB choir and orchestra.
Of Love
for solo soprano and SATB choir with orchestra, or with violin, cello and piano (English text: Kahlil Gibran) (7’44) – CONTACT
Another setting of a text by Lebanese writer, poet and visual artist Kahlil Gibran: a profound reflection on what love – real love – does to the human personality. “Love is for your growth,” Gibran says, but also for your “pruning”; love “ascends to your heights and caresses your tenderest branches” but may also “shatter your dreams”… Together with ‘Of Joy and Sorrow’ and ‘Of Beauty’, ‘Of Love’ forms my Three Songs of Kahlil Gibran.
Songs of Joy and Sorrow
for solo soprano and SATB choir with orchestra, or with flute, violin, cello and piano (English text: Kahlil Gibran) (17’40) – CONTACT
Three settings of texts by Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931). Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist most famous as author of The Prophet (1923), one of the best-loved and most frequently translated books in history. In it, Gibran distilled wisdom from the great Christian, Buddhist and Islamic religious texts he studied, adding intuitive wisdom of his own. The result is many passages that embody deep and timeless insights into human experience. I have chosen some of the best of these to set to music. The three songs are: ‘Of Love’, ‘Of Joy and Sorrow’ and ‘Of Beauty’ (the audio clips above are in that order). (NB ‘Of Beauty’ is for SATB choir without soloist, ‘Of Love’ requires solo soprano and choir, and ‘Of Joy and Sorrow’ is for solo soprano only.)
Then I Became
(text: Abu Yazid of Bistam trans. R.A. Nicholson) (9’30), three versions:
– for soprano voice, clarinet in Bb or solo violin, and string orchestra – CONTACT
– for soprano, clarinet in Bb and string quartet – CONTACT
– for soprano, violin and organ – CONTACT
A setting of an ecstatic text by a 9th century Sufi: “Then I became as a bird, / whose body was of Oneness / and whose wings were of Everlastingness …”
The final 5’30 of Then I Became (in the scoring for soprano, clarinet and string orchestra) can be heard on the Listen page of this website and the full song on CD. (To order CDs: CONTACT )
Solo vocal works in progress
The following work has had substantial sections written but is not yet completed. If you are interested in performing or commissioning its completion, please CONTACT me.
Musicks Empire
for soprano and chamber ensemble (flute or alto recorder, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello or viola da gamba, harpsichord and (optional) percussion; OR 2 or 3 woodwinds, string quartet, harpsichord and percussion) (text: Andrew Marvell) (approx. 18’) – CONTACT
1st & 6th movements
4th movement:
5th movement:
(These sound clips are of the version with choir and orchestra and are intended only to give an indication of musical style and content.) (The choral and orchestral version of the 5th movement, Musick, the Mosaique of the Air, can be heard in full on the Listen page of this website.)
(Full lyrics for my songs and vocal works can be found here: Lyrics of Songs and Choral Music.)