Labyrinth of Love
for soprano, chamber winds, piano, double bass and percussion (2013)
I. In This Strange Labyrinth
II. Eros (Sapho Fragment 47)
III. Sonnets from the Portuguese, XIII
IV. If I may have it, when it’s dead
V. On the Difficulty of Loving an Invisible God
VI. Liz’s Lament
VII. Oh, come to me in dreams, my love!
VIII. Short Talk on the Sensation of Aeroplane Takeoff
Instrumentation: Flute/Piccolo Oboe / English Horn Clarinet in Bb / Bass Clarinet in Bb Bassoon Soprano Saxophone Alto Saxophone Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Horn in F Trumpet in C (straight metal mute, harmon mute) Bass Trombone (straight metal mute) Percussion (one or two players) Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Crotales (one octave), Chimes, Castanets, Suspended Cymbal, Wind Chimes, Bongos (on stand), Triangle, Claves, Guiro, Maracas, Vibraslap, Wood Blocks (very large, large, medium), Tambourine, Kick Bass Drum Soprano (If performed in large concert hall, amplification optional but recommended) Piano Contrabass
Publisher: Michael Daugherty Music
Duration: 40 minutes
World Premiere: World premiere performance of wind version by University of Miami Frost Wind Ensemble, conducted by Gary D. Green, with Hila Plitmann, soprano, Coral Gables, Florida, October 6, 2013.
Program Note:
Labyrinth of Love (2013) for soprano and large chamber ensemble was commissioned by Present Music, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and the Rambert Dance Company, London, United Kingdom and University of Miami Frost School of Music. The world premiere performance of the orchestral version was given by Present Music, conducted by Kevin Stalheim, with Jennifer Goltz, soprano, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 15, 2012. The first European performance of the orchestral version was given by the Rambert Dance Company, Paul Hoskins, music director, with Marguerite Donlon, choreographer, in Manchester, United Kingdom, on October 10, 2012. The world premiere performance of the wind version was given by the University of Miami Frost Wind Ensemble, conducted by Gary D. Green, with Hila Plitmann, soprano, in Coral Gables, Florida, October 6, 2013.
Labyrinth of Love is inspired by the love poetry and prose by eight women: Sappho (612 BC–570 BC; Greek), Lady Mary Wroth (1587–1653; British), Juana Ines de la Cruz (1651–1695; Mexican), Mary Shelley (1797–1851; British) Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861; British), Emily Dickinson (1830–1886; American), Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011; American), and Anne Carson (b. 1950; Canadian). The texts I have selected, and the musical landscape I have created, is full of bitterness, desire, longing, ecstasy, irony, tenderness, despair, hope, sadness and humor.
–Michael Daugherty
