Wandered for mezzo-soprano and mixed ensemble (2018)

Instrumentation:

Mezzo-soprano, Violin, Clarinet, Horn, Piano

Duration: ca. 5’

About the piece:

Wandered is a text setting of William Wordsworth’s poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. In this piece, I explored various instrumental timbres and colours that I felt would suit the text, while also complementing the mezzo-soprano line. The piece has 4 sections which matches the 4 stanzas of the poem, and I focused on creating different textures in each section.

Text:

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine 
And twinkle on the milky way, 
They stretched in never-ending line 
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, 
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they 
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought 
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye 
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills, 
And dances with the daffodils.

First performance: 

May 2018, Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore, USA

Performed by:

Tammi Lee (mezzo-soprano), Nicholas Bentz (violin), Juan Carlos Martinez (clarinet), Emma Van Zuyle (horn), Sherry Du (piano), Lee Jia Yi (conductor)

Subsequent performance:

March 2019, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore

Performed by:

Lu Pei-Yun (mezzo-soprano), Lau Joey (violin), Stephanie Tan (clarinet), Katherine Yang (horn), Yang Ting-Ting (piano), Lee Jia Yi (conductor)