The Sharp Edges of the Earth
The Sharp Edges of the Earth was written for soprano Regina Stroncek, set to three poems of Hilda Doolittle. It explores themes of nature and figures of Greek mythology.
The moon, the sea, the beasts of the earth. Tumultuous and teeming with energy, yet eternal and steady in their patterns of rise and fall, ebb and flow, birth and death. What is it we seek to gain from them? To lay down arms and sit together with the moon? To absorb the vast power of the sea? To control the men and animals of the earth with a twirl of our fingers?
Perhaps what we truly envy is nature’s predictability. It is inevitable - the moon will rise, the waves will peak, the panther will strike. But can we sit and speak with each other truthfully, under the starkness of the moonlight? Can I live with the assuredness of the sea? Can any of the magic of the universe make my love stay with me forever?
We may not be able to rein in the forces of nature to gain what we truly want, but we surely have a song together. What note shall we pitch? What do you ask of the ocean when no one else is listening?
The Sharp Edges of the Earth was written for soprano Regina Stroncek, set to three poems of Hilda Doolittle. It explores themes of nature and figures of Greek mythology.
The moon, the sea, the beasts of the earth. Tumultuous and teeming with energy, yet eternal and steady in their patterns of rise and fall, ebb and flow, birth and death. What is it we seek to gain from them? To lay down arms and sit together with the moon? To absorb the vast power of the sea? To control the men and animals of the earth with a twirl of our fingers?
Perhaps what we truly envy is nature’s predictability. It is inevitable - the moon will rise, the waves will peak, the panther will strike. But can we sit and speak with each other truthfully, under the starkness of the moonlight? Can I live with the assuredness of the sea? Can any of the magic of the universe make my love stay with me forever?
We may not be able to rein in the forces of nature to gain what we truly want, but we surely have a song together. What note shall we pitch? What do you ask of the ocean when no one else is listening?
The Sharp Edges of the Earth was written for soprano Regina Stroncek, set to three poems of Hilda Doolittle. It explores themes of nature and figures of Greek mythology.
The moon, the sea, the beasts of the earth. Tumultuous and teeming with energy, yet eternal and steady in their patterns of rise and fall, ebb and flow, birth and death. What is it we seek to gain from them? To lay down arms and sit together with the moon? To absorb the vast power of the sea? To control the men and animals of the earth with a twirl of our fingers?
Perhaps what we truly envy is nature’s predictability. It is inevitable - the moon will rise, the waves will peak, the panther will strike. But can we sit and speak with each other truthfully, under the starkness of the moonlight? Can I live with the assuredness of the sea? Can any of the magic of the universe make my love stay with me forever?
We may not be able to rein in the forces of nature to gain what we truly want, but we surely have a song together. What note shall we pitch? What do you ask of the ocean when no one else is listening?