The Indian Serenade - No. 2 from Six Shelley Songs by Jason Thorpe Buchanan - Melos Music.com

Six Shelley Songs by Jason Thorpe Buchanan were composed in the summer of 2008. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) wrote these poems between 1814 and his unexpected death in 1822, when he drowned at sea. He is known for having been expelled from Oxford for distributing a pamphlet entitled "The Necessity of Atheism". He was married twice, leaving his first wife shortly after having written Away!, later meeting Mary Shelley, soon to be author of Frankenstein and daughter of William Godwin, a literary figure whom Shelley idolized. He lost two of the three children he had with Mary Shelley between 1818 and 1819. His texts have been criticized for their seemingly abstract surface aesthetic, as well as being called "splendidly nebulous". With these six songs I have attempted to capture the essence of Shelley's writing and depict the well-crafted romantic imagery contained in these poems. I hope that in doing so I manage to show their "splendidly nebulous" nature in my music.

The Indian Serenade (1819) - P.B. Shelley
I Arise from dreams of thee
In the first sweet sleep of night,
When the winds are breathing low,
And the stars are shining bright:
I arise from dreams of thee,
And a spirit in my feet
Hath led me -- who knows how!
To thy chamber window, Sweet!

The wandering airs they faint
On the dark, the silent stream--
And the champak odors fail
Like sweet thoughts in a dream;
The nightingale's complaint,
It dies upon her heart;--
As I must on thine,
O belovèd as thou art!

O lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast;--
O press it to thine own again,
Where it will break at last.

Nicole Yazolino - Soprano
Carolyn Villavicencio Grossmann - Piano

Performance Date: Nov. 2, 2008, Las Vegas, NV

For more information on the composer, please visit http://www.jasonthorpebuchanan.com

Score now available at: http://www.melosmusic.com/jason/w_she...

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[lennyranallo]

incredible john. You have an incredible body of work and I look foward to hearing more from you. Please check out my music as I am a composer as well and I would love your feedback

[jessejetaime]

My mom used to sing a simpler version of this to me as a kid. I always remember it now.

[M Moss]

This brought tears to my eyes. It is magnificent,