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About the Composer

Martha Hill Duncan

Martha Hill Duncan was a member of the first graduating class of the Houston High School for Performing and Visual Arts and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. She furthered her musical studies in Ithaca, NY with pianist Trudy Borden and in Toronto with composer Dr....

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Graphite Publishing

Where Leaps the Ste. Marie

Name: Where Leaps the Ste. Marie
SKU: GP-D016
Availability: InStock

Martha Hill Duncan

This elegant piece has a modern sensibility that singers will find very effective and accessible.

Art Songs

piano

high voice, medium voice

slow

secular, summer

Difficulty: 3

Duration: less than 3 min.

GP-D016

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voice, piano

This elegant portrayal of the Ste. Marie River has a modern sensibility that singers will find very effective and accessible for a variety of performance occasions. More advanced breath control is needed in the piu mosso section, but the exhilaration in the rise and fall of the river’s rapids, imitated in the sweep of the voice and piano lines, make the efforts more than worthwhile.

Composer’s Notes

My inspiration for Singing in the Northland began in 1998 when my daughter Claire was about twelve years old. Her voice teacher, Dr. Nadia Izbitskaya, lamented the lack of expressive contemporary vocal music for young singers and presented me with the challenge of writing for my own daughter. As a transplanted Texan, living in Canada, I decided to concentrate on Canadian poetry and the first song I wrote was “Quiet,” with poetry by Marjorie Pickthall. The others in the collection followed over the years as my daughter grew up and continued singing. This collection is dedicated to Claire for her patience, humour, insights and moreover, her beautiful and expressive voice.

Text

What dream you in the night-time
When you whisper to the moon?
What say you in the morning?
What do you sing at noon?
When I hear your voice uplifting,
Like a breeze through branches sifting,
And your ripples softly drifting
To the August airs a-tune.

Lend me your happy laughter,
Ste. Marie, as you leap;
Your peace that follows after
Where through the isles you creep.
Give to me your splendid dashing,
Give your sparkles and your splashing,
Your uphurling waves down crashing,
Then, your aftermath of sleep.

– E. Pauline Johnson (1862-1913)

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