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it is at moments after i have dreamed - (2008)
E. E. Cummings
for medium voice and piano
it is at moments after i have dreamed
of the rare entertainment of your eyes,
when(being fool to fancy)i have deemed
with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise;
at moments when the glassy darkness holds.....
(for the remainder of this text, please consult any one of the many printed and electronic sources)
"it is at moments after i have dreamed" was originally published as "III" in The Dial, "Five Songs" (Jan. 1922),
New York: The Dial Publishing Company, Inc., Editor: Scofield Thayer,
[ 4 pages, circa 3' 00" ]
E. E. Cummings
This is a remembrance, as the speaker tells of "rare entertainment of your eyes." The subtle dissonances of such phrases as "the genuine apparition of your smile" speak of being at one time wholly taken with someone, and yet at the same time that moment in Cummings' word pictures of several "moments" is past. For this, the opening draws on whole tone chords to draw the unreality of these real recollections; the whole tone gestures yield to a more concrete polytonal moment and then to a solid C major with its wandering tonal references.
The opening statement is meant to be sung with some rubato a piacere, as if a recitative, which then gives way to the strict tempo of the second section. The two sections together make up a verse in what is essentially a two verse song form.
In several places the text is repeated, even if only a word or phrase. The stress is on the notion of the memories being "mine." This repetition binds the first complete song verse to a second verse form.
The score for it is at moments after i have dreamed is newly engraved and edited according to the text published in 1922 as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano-vocal score.
it is at moments after i have dreamed
