Of which we dreamed not before (2021)
soprano, horn, piano
c. 9 minutes
text by Arthur O’Shaughnessy
Commissioned by Caroline Oltmanns, Misook Yun, and Sean Yancer through generous funding of the Youngstown University Research Council for the 'Auf dem Strom' - Diversifying Repertoire for High Voice project
Premiered by Misook Yun (soprano), Sean Yancer (horn), Caroline Oltmanns (piano)
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 2 March 2022
Written in 1873, Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s “Ode” is a celebration of creators and their ability to inspire change in the world. Yet throughout his nine-stanza poem, O’Shaughnessy uses the term “man” to refer to all of humankind—no doubt a result of the societal norms of era in which he was active. In selecting the stanzas to use for my own composition, I intentionally chose stanzas that did not limit creators and dreamers to men, but instead invited people of all identities into the creative process.
Scored for soprano voice, horn, and piano, Of which we dreamed not before (2021) is a slow- motion burst of creative energy. With each new stanza, the accompaniment plays faster and faster rhythmic motifs and the ensemble’s excitement grows, building momentum that leads to the joyful climax of the work: the welcoming of new dreamers from the “dazzling unknown shore.” The work ends quietly and calmly, filled with hope for the future. As a teacher, I have always been moved by this final stanza of the poem, for it welcomes a new generation of creators to bring change to the world.
Excerpts from "Ode" (1873)
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
We, in the ages lying,
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself in our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.
We, with our dreaming and singing,
Ceaseless and sorrowless we!
The glory about us clinging
Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing:
O men! it must ever be
That we dwell, in our dreaming and singing,
A little apart from ye.
For we are afar with the dawning
And the suns that are not yet high,
And out of the infinite morning
Intrepid you hear us cry --
Great hail! we cry to the comers
From the dazzling unknown shore;
Bring us hither your sun and your summers;
And renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your song's new numbers,
And things that we dreamed not before:
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers,
And a singer who sings no more.
c. 9 minutes
text by Arthur O’Shaughnessy
Commissioned by Caroline Oltmanns, Misook Yun, and Sean Yancer through generous funding of the Youngstown University Research Council for the 'Auf dem Strom' - Diversifying Repertoire for High Voice project
Premiered by Misook Yun (soprano), Sean Yancer (horn), Caroline Oltmanns (piano)
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH, 2 March 2022
Written in 1873, Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s “Ode” is a celebration of creators and their ability to inspire change in the world. Yet throughout his nine-stanza poem, O’Shaughnessy uses the term “man” to refer to all of humankind—no doubt a result of the societal norms of era in which he was active. In selecting the stanzas to use for my own composition, I intentionally chose stanzas that did not limit creators and dreamers to men, but instead invited people of all identities into the creative process.
Scored for soprano voice, horn, and piano, Of which we dreamed not before (2021) is a slow- motion burst of creative energy. With each new stanza, the accompaniment plays faster and faster rhythmic motifs and the ensemble’s excitement grows, building momentum that leads to the joyful climax of the work: the welcoming of new dreamers from the “dazzling unknown shore.” The work ends quietly and calmly, filled with hope for the future. As a teacher, I have always been moved by this final stanza of the poem, for it welcomes a new generation of creators to bring change to the world.
Excerpts from "Ode" (1873)
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
We, in the ages lying,
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself in our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.
We, with our dreaming and singing,
Ceaseless and sorrowless we!
The glory about us clinging
Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing:
O men! it must ever be
That we dwell, in our dreaming and singing,
A little apart from ye.
For we are afar with the dawning
And the suns that are not yet high,
And out of the infinite morning
Intrepid you hear us cry --
Great hail! we cry to the comers
From the dazzling unknown shore;
Bring us hither your sun and your summers;
And renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your song's new numbers,
And things that we dreamed not before:
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers,
And a singer who sings no more.