Dawn - (2009) ![](images/01_Little_Green_Dot.gif)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
for medium voice and piano
An angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.
[ 1 page, circa 1' 40" ]
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Paul Laurence Dunbar
While reading Roger Bourland's blog entries about song writers being "miniaturists," I thought about the long and short of the argument. (See Three Songs for Roger.) A song need not be miniature as some of my longer settings prove out at least to my satisfaction, but this text suggested such a "miniature." It was completed in just twenty minutes this afternoon, the 19th of January.
The text is drawn from the excellent Wright State University Libraries' Paul Laurence Dunbar Digital Collection, www.libraries.wright.edu/special/dunbar/. Dunbar worked in both standard English and dialect, this being a fine example of his craftsmanship and skill in a small yet exquisite form. A visit to this site along with comments on my other settings of Dunbar's poetry is suggested.
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This short, sweet text suggested a setting in which the long phrase of the introduction is simply the accompaniment to the verse itself, with a simple extension for the final cadence. Hardly a song form, it is more like the single verse of a hymn.
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The score for Dawn is available 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.
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Dawn
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