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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

Life

Name: Life
SKU: GP-D007
Availability: InStock

Martha Hill Duncan

“O Life, how slight!
A little sweet,
A brief delight”

Art Songs

piano

high voice, medium voice

fast

fall, secular

Difficulty: 2

Duration: less than 3 min.

GP-D007

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voice, piano

“Life” is a tiny, melodramatic piece that is full of humour, drama, and assorted vocal techniques. A great closer!

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

(After the French)

O Life, how slight!

   A little sweet,

A brief delight,

   And then – we meet!

O Life, how vain!

   A little spite,

A little pain,

   And then – good-night!

– Charles G. D. Roberts (1860-1943)