Old Man - (2015)    

Jean Starr Untermeyer

for soprano and piano

 

 

When an old man walks with lowered head
And eyes that do not seem to see,
I wonder does he ponder on
The worm he was or is to be.

Or has he turned his gaze within,
Lost to his own vicinity;
Erecting in a doubtful dream
Frail bridges to Infinity.

2 pages, circa 2' 40"

Jean Starr Untermeyer

 

The text is found in "American Poetry, 1922: A Miscellany," Harcourt, Brace and Company.

 

 

 Polytonal chords built on separations of the tenth and the twelfth color this musing, with static double-dotted rhythm standing in contrast to sweeps of harmonic blurring. The form is a song form with the second strophe pitched a second below before a return to the tonic at the coda, as the vocal line ends as it began.

 

 

The score for Old Man 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.

 

Old Man