Four Poems of Linda Pastan Program Note
With Four Poems of Linda Pastan for soprano, flute, viola, double bass, piano, and percussion (1987), originated when I glanced casually at a book of Linda Pastan’s poetry at the Millay Colony, opened to ‘Instructions to the Reader,’ and knew immediately I would set it. Eventually this poem was complemented by ‘We Come to Silence’; and in between I placed the two evocations of childhood that gave the book its title: ‘PM/AM.’ “ Instructions to the Reader’ is basically concerned with the nature and difficulties of artistic communication, while the final hymn to silence suggests that quietness of mind which is essential both for creation and receptivity. It is also, in my mind, a poem about a quiet, peaceful death. These songs were written for Mimmi Fulmer and the Currents Ensemble of the University of Richmond, directed by Fred Cohen.