American Lullaby

My rendition of my favorite art song, written in 1932 by Georgia native Gladys Rich.

I first heard this song sung by an extraordinary mezzo-soprano (IIRC) named Cassie, while I was a (poor) student at Gordon College in Wenham, MA circa 2001 or 2002. I was entranced by the extent to which tenderness, longing, and irony were all contained within less than two minutes worth of lyric.

This rendition is from memory, and by ear. Absent a few ornamentations, the piano closely approximates the gently rocking rhythm of the original. The vocals... well, they can't be helped; I'm not an extraordinary mezzo, just a fair-to-middling bass.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• artsong

[TheConfessor2]

Thank you.

One of my failings as an artist is an inability to maintain a separate vocal line while playing an instrument; hence, my accompaniments almost always double the vocals wherever there are any.

Here it worked in my favor. With my LH doing a C octave, my RH played a first-inversion chord to finger the first note of the melody. When my LH did the G octave, it seemed natural for the RH to maintain a similar interval while fingering the D. Given that dissonance, the rest came naturally.

[nurutari]

woot!! nice, i never heard of this verison befor XD

[KatySuicide]

this is my solo ensemble song this year. it sounds so low for me cuz im used to higher pitched song

[xstarxreaderx]

I did this for Solo and Ensemble. For my solo.. I WENT TO STATE! WOO!

[kawiah]

I have to say, while it's not my favorite performance of the piece, I must compliment you on your arrangement of the accompaniment. Especially since I know the original so well, I really appreciate the different chord colors you've chosen. Nice job!