Matthew C. Saunders--Vocal Music--www.martiandances.com

Vocal Music

Vocal music is not my first calling, but I have enjoyed the vocal writing I have done, slight though it is. Since I prefer to base my pieces on some collaboration, all it would take is the right voice…

Woman/Night for soprano and trombone (forthcoming)

Anticipated premiere Autumn 2010

Poetry by Wallace Stevens

Commissioned by Carole Ott, University of North Carolina-Greensboro

I recently reconnected with Carole, whom I knew as an undergraduate. She has a fantastic voice, and we have decided to collaborate on a piece we can perform together. The poetry I have selected revolves around the connected themes of the title, and will attempt to view those themes from multiple and respective angles.

El Piano de Genoveva for mariachi and electric guitar (5 minutes)

Poem by Ramón Lopez Velarde

Premiered September 2008 by Mariachi OPSU

There is a part for tenor in this piece which presents most of the text. However, the piece is mainly a mariachi piece, so read more about it on the chamber music page.

Ophelia Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano (12 minutes)

Poems by William Shakespeare

Premiered May 2006 by Crystal Stabenow and Pierson Wetzel, Columbus, Ohio

Anticipated performance, March 2010, Society of Composers Region VIII Conference, Tacoma, Washington

Having written one cycle for Crystal, I decided to write another the next year—it behooves a composer to develop long-term collaborations. This time I chose Ophelia’s mad songs from Hamlet, a set of texts that have beguiled me since my first encounter with them in the film version of the play by Franco Zeffirelli (I have admired Helena Bonham-Carter in nearly everything she’s done, particularly her portrayal of Ophelia). Crystal sang fantastically, and I hope we can work together again someday.

Listen to “Tomorrow is St. Valentine’s Day”

Poems of Emily Dickinson for mezzo-soprano and piano (12 minutes)

Premiered September 2005 by Crystal Stabenow and Lukas Swidzinski, Port Clinton Performing Arts Festival, Port Clinton, Ohio

Performed November 2005, Columbus, Ohio

After I completed my trombone concerto, Homo sapiens trombonensis in the early spring of 2005, my composition teacher at the time suggested writing a few art songs. My wife and I have always admired the work of Emily Dickinson, so I chose three poems from “Time and Eternity.” Having written the songs, I went in search of a performer and found Crystal Stabenow, who fought through illness at the Port Clinton Performing Arts Festival in 2005 to give a stunning premiere.

Listen to a sample of “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”

The Story of Pecos Bill, children’s operetta (20 minutes)

Premiered April 2004 by the Barr Elementary School Fifth Grade, Matthew Saunders, conductor, Sheffield Lake, Ohio

In my last year of public school teaching, I taught elementary-level general music, and my project for the winter and spring of 2004 was this little opera. The students at Barr Elementary School in Sheffield Lake, Ohio collaborated on the libretto and the book, and I composed the music. The premiere went very well. At this time, this piece is not currently available, but I may get it together in the future.