Written by Jane K (Evgeniya Kozhevnikova) for 2021 Fresh Squeezed Opera Vocal Lab, \u201cSalt\u201d is a setting of the poem by Katherine E. Young.<\/p>\n
According to Young, \u201cSalt\u201d has its roots in the 1892 version of Paul S\u00e9billot\u2019s \u201cThe Dirty Shepherdess\u201d that appears in The Green Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang. A vain king asks his daughter to tell him how much she loves him, and she says she loves him as much as the salt in her food. Deeply offended, the king disowns his daughter and forces her to flee his kingdom but, after a series of plot twists, is forced to admit that salt is indeed the best thing in life.
\nThis piece can be paired with \u201cI Cry Out\u201d \u2013 another Jane K\u2019s setting for mezzo soprano and piano of \u201cPostcards from the Floating World\u201d by Katherine E. Young.<\/p>\n
Range: B3 to G5<\/strong> Salt<\/strong>
\nDuration: ca. 3\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nby Katherine E. Young
\nNot like sun sinking
\nin vermilion cloud,
\nnor moon sailing
\na silver-brushed sea,
\nnot like waves shushing
\nmutinous seabirds,
\nnor dew beading
\na web, not agelessly,
\nnot immortally
\n\u2013 though I, too, am these \u2013
\nbut simply, as in the story
\nof the woman who
\ncounts her devotion
\nin grains of salt,
\nseasoning
\nthat gives life its savor:
\nthat\u2019s what I\u2019ll be
\nfor you, o love.
\n\u201cSalt\u201d appears in Woman Drinking Absinthe by Katherine E. Young (Alan Squire Publishing, 2021).<\/p>\n