SONG
Instrumentation: voice and piano
Poem by: Christina Rossetti
Duration: 3 minutes
Composed: 2007
Premiere: October 26, 2008 by Adriana Zabala (mezzo-soprano) and Gregg Kallor at the Housing Works Bookstore in New York City
Song is a love letter at life’s end'; there’s no fear or regret, only words of comfort for the one who remains.
Song
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
Recording of Song:
