Product Description:
PDF score of be for me the rain
Program Note:
be for me the rain sets a newly composed text by poet JCCortens. This work is the second addition to a longstanding collaboration, The Book of Prayers: a seven-part song cycle exploring humility, spirituality, meditation, and healing through nature and reflection. be for me the rain represents Deprecatus Sum: A prayer of supplication, presenting a humble petition for aid, reflecting on grief, destruction, renewal, and the search for a way forward.
This piece was commissioned by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Cincinnati Art Song Initiative for their 2024 “Let it Be New” concert as a part of the 2023-2024 NATS Mentoring Program for Composers. During the program, I received the mentorship of composer and pianist Niloufar Nourbakhsh who inspired me to find new ways to approach to color, form, and textural writing.
This piece was commissioned by the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Cincinnati Art Song Initiative for their 2024 “Let it Be New” concert as a part of the 2023-2024 NATS Mentoring Program for Composers. During the program, I received the mentorship of composer and pianist Niloufar Nourbakhsh who inspired me to find new ways to approach to color, form, and textural writing.
Instrumentation:
Baritone Voice & Piano
Text by JCCortens
5.5 minutes
Vocal Range: B3-F#4
Text by JCCortens
5.5 minutes
Vocal Range: B3-F#4
Recording:
Score:
Text:
be for me the rain
Deprecatus Sum: A prayer of supplication from The Book of Prayers
be for me an autumn rain
made to remember try to forget
be for me the rain
be for me the taste of rain
lips kiss your face
an immutable sea
be for me the rain
be for me a sacred rain
a ravaged forest of cedar flesh
burnt, charred and steaming
be for me the rain
be for me the company of rain
alliance of slugs & mushrooms
all tiny things of the earthly kingdom
be for me the rain
be for me like the morning rain
bow toward a rising sun
forgiving & uncomfortable
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
-JCCortens (2023)
Deprecatus Sum: A prayer of supplication from The Book of Prayers
be for me an autumn rain
made to remember try to forget
be for me the rain
be for me the taste of rain
lips kiss your face
an immutable sea
be for me the rain
be for me a sacred rain
a ravaged forest of cedar flesh
burnt, charred and steaming
be for me the rain
be for me the company of rain
alliance of slugs & mushrooms
all tiny things of the earthly kingdom
be for me the rain
be for me like the morning rain
bow toward a rising sun
forgiving & uncomfortable
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
be for me the rain
-JCCortens (2023)