Departure (Baritone)

$5.00

Joel Snyder, bass-baritone
Jane Kozhevnikova, piano

About the work
Written by Jane K (Evgeniya Kozhevnikova) in 2019, “Departure” is a setting of the text by Edna St. Vincent Millay, for voice and piano (also available for SATB and piano). Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), a Pulitzer Prize winner, was a great American poet and playwright. Her poem “Departure” is very playful, although with some dark humor that was common for this poet. The musical setting was premiered on September 27, 2019 by Celebris Ensemble (Kalamazoo, Michigan) under the direction of Joel Snyder.

Description

Departure
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

It’s little I care what path I take,
And where it leads it’s little I care,
But out of this house, lest my heart break,
I must go, and off somewhere!
It’s little I know what’s in my heart,
What’s in my mind it’s little I know,
But there’s that in me must up and start,
And it’s little I care where my feet go!
I wish I could walk for a day and a night,
And find me at dawn in a desolate place,
With never the rut of a road in sight,
Or the roof of a house, or the eyes of a face.
I wish I could walk till my blood should spout,
And drop me, never to stir again,
On a shore that is wide, for the tide is out,
And the weedy rocks are bare to the rain.
But dump or dock, where the path I take
Brings up, it’s little enough I care,
And it’s little I’d mind the fuss they’ll make,
Huddled dead in a ditch somewhere.

Duration: ca. 2’15’’
For inquiries or performance reports, please email kozhevnikova.e@ufl.edu.