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In Fall 2009, Fordham University's in-house faculty group, "Poets Out Loud," put out a call for scores for composers interested in collaborating with them. This piece by Richard Russell was thus commissioned, after being paired with poet Elisabeth Frost. Three poems were selected and this is the resulting song cycle: "Time is Not an Option." The premiere performance is at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus on April 24, 2010.
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Soprano r Piano
DESIGN FOR LIGHTNING MUSIC
commissioned by and written for the Voices Up! project of Fordham University
richard d.russellRICHARD D. RUSSELL
timeis not an
OptionThree songs of elisabeth Frost
Performance Notes
Throughout this song cycle, whenever a meter change occurs the eighth note should remain constant.
h
In the first movement, the metronome marking is one beat per second; the pulse of a second hand ticking around the clock. The musical intention is that this pulse, coupled with a pp dynamic in the accompaniment’s left hand (until ms. 22), should convey a subconscious sense of the inevitability of time moving forward. The singer might be oblivious to this inexorable movement; there is a musical irony to the repeated line time is not an option, as time, after all, continues forward despite protestations to the contrary. The allargando climax (second half of ms. 24 – 26) should be slightly slower, but not exaggerated.
h
The second movement is marked by contrasts of mood, dynamics, and atmosphere. Tentative, dissonant piano passages contrast with measures of crisp rhythm. For instance, the line sacrificing your spontaneity is almost vaudeville in character, contrasted immediately with a mp return to distant-sounding harmonies. The sense should be one of rhapsodic daydream interrupted by everyday realities. Think back-and-forth, give and take. Note in ms. 38 the voice speaks now that’s success!
h
In the third movement, the first line attempts at constancy is the key to interpretation. Note the ways the music is and is not constant. Expectations of constancy are hinted at, and then the music moves in unexpected directions. In ms. 47 the trill is between C-Db.
Richard RussellNew York City
March 2010
!
!!
©2010 Design for Lightning Music (ASCAP)
Time
p
is not an op tion.- Yours is the wa ter- y- tea bag- sal vaged-
Lento (q = 60)
p
pp left hand through ms. 22
from the cup, saved up for some fu
mf
ture- pre sent- tense
mp
when the plate's swept clean
7
mf mp
of sec onds- and time
p
is not an op tion.- You
mf
cast your net for gold, why not
13
p mf
!! "! !! "! #!
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$ % % 3 3 3
RICHARD D. RUSSELLELISABETH FROST
TIME IS NOT AN OPTION1. An Inch of Time is an Inch of Gold
commissioned by and written for the Voices Up! project of Fordham University
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days
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wolf us down in
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doz ens.-
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!!!
Copyright © 2010 Design for Lightning Music (ASCAP)
Freely, rubato; slow, but with little pulse (q = 80-86)
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2. Success Means Preparation, Without It Is Failure
Richard D. RussellElizabeth Frost
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Copyright © 2010 Design for Lightning Music (ASCAP)
At
p
tempts at con stan- cy,-
Lento (q = 72)
p mf p
sand root ed- green: li
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ving- with the per ti- na
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- ci- ty- of the saints,
quickening to q = 807
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the
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3. You Cannot Give More Than You Have
Richard D. RussellElisabeth Frost
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DESIGN for Lightning Music (ASCAP)
Richard D. Russell, composer (b. 1968, Illinois)
A multi-ASCAPlus winner, Richard Russell’s music has been performed internationally and at prominent venues in New York. Highlights include a September 11, 2002, memorial performance of Remembrances at Merkin Concert Hall, and a performance of Design for Lightning by trombonist Haim Avitsur in Israel. As well, his music has been performed in Bulgaria and, in New York, Symphony Space, New York University, the Ethical Culture Society, and Mannes College of Music.
Richard Russell has been awarded commissions by several professional, amateur, and student musicians. His work is published by Design for Lightning Music (ASCAP). He publishes Creativity and Composition, a blog for composers.
He began writing songs at an early age, beginning formal piano and composition study at 13. He earned his BA in Music Composition from Blackburn College (Illinois), graduating magna cum laude. He has also studied musical theater at New School University and participated in the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. He is currently pursuing his Masters at SUNY Empire State.
Richard Russell has been active in the New York Composers Circle for several years, having served on its Steering Committee and acted as Managing Director. Currently, he is the NYCC webmaster and In The Loop newsletter editor.
download scores and learn more atRDRussell.com
subscribe to Creativity and Composition blog atRDRussell.wordpress.com
Phone: 646-484-8187
mail:! 3725 Henry Hudson Pkwy #11C
" Riverdale, NY 10463
web:! RDRussell.com
! RDRussellConcerts.blogspot.com
Works performed at (selected list)
• Symphony Space Thalia, New York
• Merkin Hall, New York
• Bar-Ilan University, Israel
• Naval House, Varna, Bulgaria
• Ethical Culture Society, New York
• CAMI Hall, New York
• Saint Peter’s Church @ Citigroup Center,
New York
• New York University
• Mannes College of Music, New York
• Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew,
Brooklyn
• The Lucy Moses School, New York
• The LGBT Community Center, New York
Works commissioned by (selected list)
•Alaria Chamber Ensemble
•Prismatic Productions (NY)
•Bell and Barter Theatre (NJ)
•Sofia Dimitrova, soprano
•Aurora Borealis Duo
•Ollom Dance Company (NY)
•Haim Avitsur, trombone
•Tonal Center Trio
Selected Works
• Spirals, for piano trio
• Harpsichord Sonata, for harpsichord
• Fast Tides, Slow Tides, for flute and piano
• Three States of Water, for flute trio
• Two Rilke Songs, for sop, vln, pno
• The Duel, for sop, marimba, bass cl
• Three Elegies, for sop and percussion
• When Time is Over, for sop and piano
• Balance, for trombone and electronics
• Design for Lightning, for trombone and
electronics
• Violin Sonata, for vln and piano
• NeverSummer, for flute, clarinet, piano
• complete works at RDRussell.com
richard russellRICHARD RUSSELL
Elisabeth Frost, poet
A poet and critic, Elisabeth Frost is the author of a volume of poetry, All of Us (forthcoming in the Marie Alexander Series of White Pine Press); a chapbook, Rumor (Mermaid Tenement Press, 2009); and a critical study, The Feminist
Avant-Garde in American Poetry (Iowa, 2003). She is also co-editor (with Cynthia Hogue) of Innovative Women Poets: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry and
Interviews (Iowa, 2006).
Her poems have been published in The Denver Quarterly, Poetry, The Yale
Review, and other journals, and she has received grants and awards from the Fulbright Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, and the MacDowell Colony.
Her collaborative works with the artist Dianne Kornberg have been shown in a number of venues, including the Chicago Cultural Center and the Portland Museum of Art. An associate professor of English and Women's Studies at Fordham University, she is founder and editor of the annual Poets Out Loud book prize with Fordham University Press.
Elisabeth Frostʼs webpage at Forham Universityhttp://tinyurl.com/ElisabethFrost
