Performance by the Western Michigan University Chorale
James Bass, conductor
Recorded April 14th, 2009
Special thanks to Karl Schrock and Gordon Van Gent at Western Sound Studios for their "behind the scenes" help in making this recording possible.

Text by Sara Teasdale:

Oh Earth, you are too dear to-night,
   How can I sleep while all around
Floats rainy fragrance and the far
   Deep voice of the ocean that talks to the ground?

Oh Earth, you gave me all I have,
   I love you, I love you,---oh what have I
That I can give you in return---
   Except my body after I die?

Notes on the Work

June Night for mixed chorus SATB was composed in Kalamazoo, Michigan in November of 2008. When I first thought of composing a new choral work, I had recently sung with the Western Michigan University Chorale in a setting of a poem by Sara Teasdale. I was compelled by this experience to explore her work and life-story further, and found myself deeply stirred by the unceasing eloquence of her poetry and the disturbing tragedy of her self-demise. As I explored her poetry, I did not "hunt" for a poem to exploit for my own selfish purposes (which is too often the case with young composers who are not inclined towards poetry but take it upon themselves to set it anyways), but rather approached the texts slowly and carefully, waiting for the right relationship to develop between myself and a given poem. When I read "June Night" for the first time, I was profoundly moved by the text and the ways in which I could relate to it based on my own experiences. It was not long before I knew that setting this poem would be a form of deep self-expression for me.

The first stanza describes an experience of restless wakefulness in the presence of the elements of nature on a summer night. I could relate to this based on my many experiences of camping on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, lying awake at night, awed by the great mystery of the cosmos and kept awake by the sounds and fragrances of nature. The second stanza describes the extensive and tragic love story between self and nature in as concise a form as I have ever found. It is my hope in presenting this work that these words of reverence, restlessness, mystery, love, and ecstacy may be vivified by my musical setting.