This song was written for a musical memorial service in honor of long-time Music Department Coordinator at Wellesley College, Magdalen Christian. For inspiration I turned to a Wellesley poet, Dan Chiasson, whose evocative poem “Inscribed on a Lintel” from his collection Natural History (2000) beautifully summed up how Mag gave her absolute all for the Wellesley music community. She was working from her hospital bed until mere days before she passed away. Musically, my song is structured in two main parts. In the first half, the singer extolls where she was born and where she comes from. The accompaniment becomes more steadily rhythmic as the singer recounts her life’s work in the second half. Ultimately, the poem’s protagonist “disappears” after her work is done, just as Mag suddenly did from our lives.
Inscribed on a Lintel
- Year
- 2022
- Duration
- 3'
- Instrumentation
- Soprano and Piano
- Category
- Vocal
In memoriam Magdalen Christian
Text Source
- Dan Chiasson , Natural History (Knopf) © 2000, used with permission
Recordings
Performance History
-
Premiere
Jewett Auditorium, Wellesley CollegeDeborah Selig – soprano David Collins – piano
-
Distler Hall, Tufts University, Medford, MAJulia Cavallaro – soprano John McDonald – piano
-
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, MAAurora Martin, soprano Noriko Yasuda, piano
Scores
Related News
-
Inscribed on a Lintel Premiere at Wellesley College and Ratyll Premiere at Tufts by Transient Canvas
It feels like an age since I’ve had an in-person premiere, and now all of a sudden, I have two coming up back-to-back. On Sunday March 13 at 2pm at Wellesley College Deborah Selig and David Collins are premiering my new song for soprano and piano “Inscribed on a Lintel,” which sets a beautiful poem […]