SSAA + piano and oboe

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

I have always enjoyed writing treble voice literature. The homogenous tonal qualities and possibility for building impressive sonorities is relatively unmatched in other mediums. In this work, Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), American poetess, has written a very deeply emotional & masterfully crafted poetic work. Along with voices and piano, I added an oboe in composing “Echo of Silence” – a character of sound entirely different from the treble voice, but the oboe shares a sonic kinship with the voice that is as close as any two “instruments” I know.

TEXT

Come to me in the silence of the night;
Come in the speaking silence of a dream;
…
Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live
My very life again though cold in death;
Come back to me in dreams, that I may give
Pulse for pulse, breath for breath…

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Recording by THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES