The Raven | Program Notes

SOUNDINGS 2014/15 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 1

MASTERWORKS • 2014/15

WILLIAM HILL’S THE RAVEN

COLORADO SYMPHONY DAVID LOCKINGTON, conductor

PETER COOPER, oboe

COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, DUAIN WOLFE, director

Friday, March 27, 2015 at 7:30 pmSaturday, March 28, 2015 at 7:30 pmBoettcher Concert Hall

ERIC EWAZEN Down a River of Time, for Oboe and String Orchestra …past hopes and dreams …and sorrows …and memories of tomorrow

STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919) Introduction and Dance of the Firebird Dance of the Princess Infernal Dance of King Kastchei Berceuse Finale

— INTERMISSION —

WILLIAM HILL The Raven

Custom Allen Digital Computer Organ provided by MervineMusic, LLC

FRIDAY’S CONCERT IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO JENNIFER HEGLIN

SATURDAY’S CONCERT IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO THE EWING FAMILY FOUNDATION

PROGRAM 2 SOUNDINGS 2014/15 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

DAVID LOCKINGTON, conductor

Over the past thirty-five years, David Lockington has developed an impressive conducting career in the United States. A native of Great Britain, he has served as the Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra since January 1999 and has held the same position with the Modesto Symphony since May 2007. In March 2013, Lockington was appointed Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony. He also has a close relationship with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain and is currently the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor.

In addition to his current posts, since his arrival to the U.S. in 1978 Lockington has also held additional positions with American orchestras, including serving as Assistant Conductor of the Denver Symphony Orchestra and Opera Colorado and Assistant and Associate Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. David Lockington began his career as a cellist and was the Principal with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Cambridge, Lockington came to the United States on a scholarship to Yale University where he received his Master’s degree in cello performance and studied conducting with Otto Werner Mueller. He was a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and served as assistant principal cellist for three years with the Denver Symphony Orchestra before turning to conducting.

PETER COOPER, oboe

Principal Oboist of the Colorado Symphony since 1993 and Senior Instructor of Oboe at the University of Colorado, Peter Cooper has taught and performed as soloist with orchestras in Asia, Europe, and the United States. He previously held positions in the San Francisco Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras. Cooper has commissioned and premiered five oboe concertos. In 2001 Cooper recorded the Strauss and David Mullikin Oboe Concertos with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. This recording along with the CD Whispers of the

Past for oboe and harp was released on Summit Records to great critical acclaim. He previously recorded Heinrich Schweizer’s Oboe Concerto with the London Philharmonic. He has also premiered concertos by Bill Douglas and Gregory Walker with the Colorado Symphony. A prize winner in the Tokyo International Oboe Competition, Peter Cooper is a frequent guest Principal Oboist with many American orchestras. He has toured and recorded with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and has played first oboe with the Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, San Diego, and Milwaukee Symphonies as well as the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Cooper plays on Marigaux oboes and Marigaux, Paris, has sponsored him in recitals and master classes throughout the United States and Asia. A graduate of Northwestern University, he studied with Ray Still and Gladys Elliot. He has played Principal Oboe in the Grand Teton Music Festival since 2000 and has played in Strings in the Mountains and the St. Bart’s Music Festival among other festivals.

MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES


DUAIN WOLFE, director, Colorado Symphony Chorus

Recently awarded two Grammys® for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Recording, Duain Wolfe is founder and Director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. This year marks Wolfe’s 31st season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus. The Chorus has been featured at the Aspen Music Festival for over two decades. Wolfe, who is in his 21st season with the Chicago Symphony Chorus has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, and the late Sir George Solti on numerous recordings

including Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, which won the 1998 Grammy® for Best Opera Recording. Wolfe’s extensive musical accomplishments have resulted in numerous awards, including an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Denver, the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline and the Michael Korn Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art. Wolfe is also founder of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, from which he retired in 1999 after 25 years; the Chorale celebrated its 40th anniversary last season. For 20 years, Wolfe also worked with the Central City Opera Festival as chorus director and conductor, founding and directing the company’s young artist residence program, as well as its education and outreach programs. Wolfe’s additional accomplishments include directing and preparing choruses for Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Bravo!Vail Festival, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has worked with Pinchas Zuckerman as Chorus Director for the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra for the past 13 years.

COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS

The 2014-2015 Colorado Symphony concert season marks the 31st season for the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe at the request of Gaetano Delogu, the Music Director of the Denver Symphony, the chorus has grown over the past three decades into a nationally respected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances each season. The repertoire of the Chorus has been wide and diverse. Performing with all past/present Music Directors as well as countless guest conductors, highlights include Bernstein’s Mass with Marin Alsop, Kanchelli’s Styx with Jeffrey Kahane, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Duain Wolfe, and Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, and Hough’s Missa Mirabilis with Andrew Litton. In addition, the Chorus has performed at noted music festivals in the Rocky Mountain region, including the Colorado Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, where it performed with the New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas Orchestras. For over two decades, the Chorus has been featured at the Aspen Music Festival, performing such diverse repertoire as Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony, Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Berlioz’ Requiem, and Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, with conductors Lawrence Foster, James Levine, Murray Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman, and Robert Spano. The Colorado Symphony Chorus has appeared at select public and special events, and has collaborated with many renowned Colorado arts ensembles, including the Colorado Children’s Chorale, Central City Opera, Opera Colorado, and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. The chorus sang at the 1991 opening gala for the Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre, provided choral support for international opera stars José Carreras and Andrea Bocelli,



participated in the 1993 visit to Denver of Pope John Paul II. The chorus has performed the works of a number of Colorado composers, including Samuel Lancaster and John Kuzma, and has had works written especially for it by CSO composers-in-residence Jon Deak and Libby Larsen. The CSO Chorus is featured on an upcoming Hyperion release of Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis, conducted by Andrew Litton. In July 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chorus, Duain Wolfe led the chorus on a concert tour of Europe, presenting Verdi’s Requiem in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl and Prague. Chorus members come from all over the Denver metro area. For an audition appointment, call 303.308.2483.


Soprano IBrown, JamieCampbell, Lindsay R.Causey, DeneldaChoi, LeEtta H.Colbert, GretchenDaniels, Kaylin E.Dirksen, SarahDukeshier, LauraEmerich, Kate A.Gile, Jenifer D.Gill, Lori C.Graber, SusanHarpel, JenniferHedrick, ElizabethHinkley, Lynnae C.Hupp, Angela M.Jensen, ErikaJoy, Shelley E.Kirschner, Mary E.Kushnir, MarinaLook, CathyMaupin, AnneMoraskie, Wendy L.Porter, Barbara A.Ropa, Lori A.Ross, Kelly G.Saddler, Nancy C.Sladovnik, Roberta A.Solich, Stephanie A.Sowell, KellyStegink, Nicole J.Tate, JudyTravis, Stacey L.Wood, Linda K.

Soprano IIBlum, JudeBowen, Alex S.Brauchli, Margot L.Christus, AthanasiaCoberly, Ruth A.Cote, Kerry H.Dakkouri, ClaudiaEberl, Lacey

Gross, Esther J.Kraft, Lisa D.Nova, Ilene L.Nyholm, Christine M.O’Nan, Jeannette R.Rae, Donneve S.Rattray, RebeccaRider, Shirley J.Snyer, Lynne M.Von Roedern, Susan K.Walker, Marcia L.Weinstein, Sherry L.Wells. KirstenWoodrow, SandyYoung, Cara

Alto IAdams, Priscilla P.Boothe, Kay A.Brady, Lois F.Branam, Emily M.Brown, KimberlyBuesing, AmyCarlisle, AllisonConrad, Jayne M.Costain, Jane A.Daniel, Sheri L.Dunkin, Aubri K.Franz, Kirsten D.Gayley, Sharon R.Groom, Gabriella D.Guittar, PatHolst, Melissa J.Hoopes, Kaia M.Horle, Carol E.Kolstad, AnnieKraft, DeannaMcWaters, SusanMeromy, LeahPassoth, GinnyTannenbaum, ClairThayer, Mary B.Virtue, PatWise, SaraWood, Heather

Alto IICox, Martha E.Deck, Barbara R.Dominguez, JoyceEslick, Carol A.Golden, DanielaHoskins, HansiJackson, Brandy H.Janasko, Ellen D.Kibler, JaniceLondon, Carole A.Maltzahn, JoannaMarchbank, Barbara J.Mendicello, Beverly DMillar, Kelly T.Nittoli, Leslie M.Scooros, Pamela R.Trierweiler, Ginny

Tenor IDougan, DustinDukeshier, BrianGewecke, Joel C.Gordon, Jr., FrankGuittar, Jr., ForrestHassell, ChristopherHodel, David K.Moraskie, Richard A.Muesing, Garvis J.Nicholas, Timothy W.O’Donnell, WilliamReiley, William G.Snook, DavidVan Milligan, John P.Waller, RyanZimmerman, Kenneth A.

Tenor IIBabcock, Gary E.Bradley, MacDavies, Dusty R.Dixon, Stephen C.Fuehrer, Roger A.Gale, John H.Kolm, Kenneth E.

Martin, Taylor S.Mason, Brandt J.Milligan, Tom A.Ruth, Ronald L.Sims, Jerry E.Struthers, David R.Wolf, Jeffrey P.Wyatt, Daniel L.

Bass IAdams, John G.Branam, Travis D.Carlton, Grant H.Cowen, GeorgeDrickey, Robert E.Eickhoff, BenjaminGray, MatthewHesse, Douglas D.Hume, DonaldJirak, Thomas J.Mehta, Nalin J.Parce, Frank Y.Quarles, KennethRutkowski, Trevor B.Williams, Benjamin MWood, Brian W.

Bass IIFletcher, Jonathan S.Friedlander, BobGibbons, DanIsraelson, Eric W.Jackson, Terry L.Kent, Roy A.Kraft, Mike A.Millar, Jr., Robert F.Moncrieff, KennethMorrison, Greg A.Nelson, ChuckNuccio, Eugene J.Phillips, John R.Skillings, Russell R.Swanson, Wil W.Virtue, Tom G.

Duain Wolfe, Chorus Founder and Director; Mary Louise Burke, Associate Chorus DirectorTravis Branam, Assistant Chorus Director; Taylor Martin, Intern ConductorEric Israelson, Chorus Manager; Barbara Porter, Assistant Chorus ManagerLaurie Kahler, Principal Accompanist

THE RAVEN — Electronic Chorus: Travis Branam, Leader.Jude Blum, Alex Bowen, Allison Carlisle, Ben Eickhoff, Doug Hesse, Hansi Hoskins, John Van Milligan


MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTESEric Ewazen: Down a River of TimeEric Ewazen was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 1, 1954. Down a River of Time was composed in 1999 and premiered that year with oboist Linda Strommen and the American Sinfonietta. Duration of the work is about 25 minutes. The piece is scored for solo oboe and strings. This is the first performance of the work by the Colorado Symphony.

Upon observing that Down a River of Time involves a solo oboist and string orchestra, one might suppose that it is an oboe concerto in all but name. That is not quite how composer Eric Ewazen views it. He describes the work as “an aria with string orchestra,” with the oboe cast as the voice that one would usually find in an aria. Ewazen’s score reflects upon the near vocal colors an oboe can produce and its predilection for expressing feelings. Whether cheerful or poignant, the oboe can do it, and the absence of specific words that a singer would likely provide frees the listener to make his or her own interpretations.

The work was composed for oboist Linda Strommen and the American Sinfonietta, who premiered it in 1999. As for the title, Ewazen says he borrowed it from a Christmas Day 1997 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. Ewazen’s father had passed away that very day, and in that context, the phrase caught the composer’s attention. Musically speaking, he set out to capture “the cycle of life.”

Each movement’s subtitle is intended to hint at the idea Ewazen is considering at that point: moods that he seeks to evoke musically. First comes “Past Hopes and Dreams,” with its attendant spirit of reminiscence. Pulsing strings and a flowing melody for the soloist gradually increase in tempo, as if the current is becoming ever more rapid.

The second movement, “…. And Sorrows,” is sweetly plaintive, more reflective than deeply tragic. There are tears here, but not sobs, and an utter lack of dissonance. It seems that, musically speaking, one can reflect on sorrows without collapsing into heartbreak. Late in the movement, the oboist is given an expressive cadenza which manages to bring out even more clearly the voice-like qualities that an oboe can produce.

With the final movement, Ewazen chose to consider “… and Memories of Tomorrow.” Can one have memories of future days? Perhaps not, but surely one can reflect upon which current memories may come to mind in the days ahead and what those memories may mean to one’s view of life. In this case, the music suggests that those memories will be of generally cheerful spirits. All is earnest and eager with no sense of tension. At times, the oboe soloist is integrated into the string ensemble; at others, it rises to soloistic prominence. Ewazen imagines that this music evokes tomorrow; if so, tomorrow is something to which one can look forward with genuine enthusiasm. Moving along the “river of time” leads ultimately to days of sparkling sunshine.

Program note by Betsy Schwarm, author of the “Classical Music Insights” series

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MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTESIgor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Suite from The Firebird (1919 revision)Igor Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882, in Oranienbaum, Russia and died on April 6, 1971, in New York. He composed the ballet The Firebird in 1910. The Suite from the complete ballet performed today is the composer’s 1919 revision. Duration of the work is about 22 minutes. The Suite is scored for pairs of woodwinds, along with doubles on piccolo and English horn; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. The piece was last performed by the orchestra on May 14 and 15, 2011, with Scott Yoo on the podium.

Were it not for procrastination, Igor Stravinsky might never have composed his first important ballet, The Firebird. The procrastination in question was not Stravinsky’s own; he was only the beneficiary of another colleague’s lack of work ethic. The year was 1909. Sergei Diaghilev, grand impresario of the Ballets Russes, had contracted with composer Anatoly Liadov for a new work for the company’s upcoming Paris tour. Liadov had not followed through on schedule, and Diaghilev — requiring a new ballet immediately — turned to the little known Stravinsky, not yet thirty, who set to work at once.

Diaghilev and company had already chosen the story: a Russian folk tale concerning the Firebird, a kind of powerful good spirit whose feathers supposedly convey beauty and protection upon the earth. As the ballet developed, other characters were included: Prince Ivan Tsarevich, a group of enchanted princesses, one of whom promptly becomes the prince’s love, and the evil sorcerer Kashchei, from whom Ivan must rescue the princesses. It is only through the intervention of the Firebird, whose life he had spared earlier in the ballet, that Ivan is able to destroy the sorcerer, cave the girls, and marry his chosen one. The folk origins of the tale inspired Stravinsky to use a few folk melodies in his score. Yet most of the ballet, especially the fluttering dance of the Firebird and the memorable wedding march at the ballet’s conclusion, was his own creation.

The Firebird ballet was completed by mid-April of 1910 and was promptly sent to Paris, where the dancers were already preparing for the scheduled June premiere. One last roadblock arose when Anna Pavlova, the principal ballerina, refused to dance the role of the Firebird, declaring that she detested the music. Disaster was only averted when another dancer, Tamara Karsavina, stepped into the role, and went on to score a triumph. The premiere was a triumph for dancers and composer alike. It was the first major performance of a Stravinsky work outside of Russia, and ensured him a lasting place in musical headlines.

In the years after the premiere, Stravinsky prepared a sequence of orchestral suites from the ballet, so that orchestras could perform the music without dancers. Of these suites, that from 1919 is the most popular. The 1919 suite focuses upon select moments from the full ballet, with both light scenes and high drama, proving the variety of the original vision. Much of it will be familiar even to those who have not seen the ballet, but who may recall its appearance in the closing scenes of Fantasia 2000, as music to accompany a volcanic eruption, particularly apropos for the Infernal Dance.

Program note by Betsy Schwarm, author of the “Classical Music Insights” series.

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William Hill: The RavenWilliam Hill was born on January 31, 1954, in Burlington, North Carolina. The Raven was composed in 2014. The piece is scored for three flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, (3rd doubling Eb clarinet), bass clarinet, two bassoons, contra bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, organ, piano (amplified), electronic chorus, chorus, and strings. The duration is approximately 40 minutes. This is the premier performance of the work.

Composer and percussionist William Hill has been Principal Timpanist of the Colorado Symphony since 1980, appearing as soloist on numerous occasions and in the orchestra’s popular Drums of the World Show and having his works performed by the ensemble more than fifty times. Hill is also an Instructor of Composition and Counterpoint at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music and Principal Timpanist and Resident Composer with the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has won numerous composition and performance awards from such organizations as the Percussive Arts Society, ASCAP, Colorado Music Teacher’s Association, Music Academy of the West and Ohio Collegiate Jazz Competition. Hill holds a Bachelor of Music with High Distinction and a Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University, and a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is also known as a conductor for his appearances with the Colorado Symphony, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Greeley Chamber Orchestra, Aurora Symphony, Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, Grand Teton Music Festival, and numerous Denver-area professional and amateur groups.

Hill’s chamber and orchestral works in a wide range of styles have won him an international reputation as a composer. Among his recent projects are the Symphony No. 3, premiered by the Colorado Symphony in January 2012 under the direction of Larry Rachleff and nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Grawemeyer Award, the two most prestigious distinctions in American concert music; his music for the Denver street festival Oh! Heck! Yeah! in summer 2014 was premiered and recorded by the Colorado Symphony; the chamber piece Beguiling My Sad Fancy Into Smiling was first performed on Denver’s Dazzle Classical Series in May 2014; the Colorado Symphony commissioned him to compose and record music for the opening of the renovated Union Station in July 2014; a CD of his modern jazz compositions was released in 2011; and in 2007 an album of his chamber compositions featuring performers from the Colorado Symphony and Denver University Faculty was released on Centaur Records and the Moravian Philharmonic of the Czech Republic recorded four of his orchestral compositions for Albany Records. Hill’s residencies as a composer include those with the Colorado Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, National Music Festival, Academy in the Wilderness Chamber Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony, Denver Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains Festival, Denver Public Schools and Nova Series of Salt Lake City. As both performer and composer, he has been the subject of PBS Profiles on Western Artists and numerous articles in regional and national publications.

Hill wrote of The Raven, commissioned by the Colorado Symphony and Chorus, “I’ve been very interested in the writing of Edgar Allan Poe [1809-1849] since I was twelve or thirteen years old. When Duain Wolfe, Founder and Director of Colorado Symphony Chorus, and I started looking at texts for a large choral work for the Colorado Symphony and Chorus we considered many works by American authors, especially Poe and Walt Whitman. The Raven was chosen for its

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES


beautiful use of the language, its musical flow, its general character, and particularly for its rather ambiguous and thought-provoking exploration of human loss.

“The entire text of eighteen stanzas is used with nothing cut or altered other than repetition of a few words for contrapuntal and dramatic effect. I’ve used Wagner’s leitmotif technique [i.e., a repeating motto phrase associated with a particular idea, image, object or person] to musically describe important aspects of the poem: the bird, the protagonist’s memory of Lenore, his various mental states, and of course the repeated word ‘nevermore.’ In many ways, The Raven is a tone poem with chorus, and word painting is also an important compositional technique. A sad and nostalgic little waltz theme occurs in the first stanza as our hero remembers and tries to forget his ‘lost Lenore.’ Fragments of this theme recur, alternately haunting and then sarcastically taunting him as he puts himself through the many emotional twists and turns of the poem. A heartbeat motive is used throughout, sometimes deep in the texture, sometimes front and center, much as our own heartbeats reflect our changing states of mental calm or excitement and instability.

“The musical language of The Raven is modern and challenging for both chorus and orchestra: chromaticism, quickly changing meter and tempo, spacey abstract sounding sections, some very dense angular writing, and even some Neo Romantic/Impressionist textures. A twelve-tone row [i.e., one that includes all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale] in its various permutations is used in the orchestra but not in the chorus. The orchestra is augmented with an organ, and the chorus has a separate small group of eight singers amplified with some digital effects. Duain Wolfe called The Raven, ‘A remarkable setting of the poem, and a noble challenge for the chorus.’”

©2015 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door —Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore —For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore —Nameless here for evermore.



And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door —Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; —This it is and nothing more.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you” — here I opened wide the door; —Darkness there and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!” —Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.“Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore —Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; —’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door —Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore —Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”



Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,Though its answer little meaning — little relevancy bore;For we cannot help agreeing that no living human beingEver yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door —Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,With such name as “Nevermore.”

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke onlyThat one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.Nothing farther then he uttered — not a feather then he fluttered —Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before —On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”Then the bird said “Nevermore.”

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and storeCaught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful DisasterFollowed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore —Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden boreOf ‘Never — nevermore.’”

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linkingFancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore —What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yoreMeant in croaking “Nevermore.”

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressingTo the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease recliningOn the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censerSwung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.“Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee — by these angels he hath sent theeRespite — respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”



“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil! —Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted —On this home by Horror haunted — tell me truly, I implore —Is there — is there balm in Gilead? — tell me — tell me, I implore!”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! — prophet still, if bird or devil!By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore —Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore —Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting —“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sittingOn the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floorShall be lifted — nevermore!

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The Raven | Program Notes