D ear M adam
President
For SSA choir and piano
i. Empathy
ii. Advice To a Girl
iii. i have been a thousand different women
©2023 emm bee kay music
Marybeth Kurnat
Dear Madam President
I. Empathy
I see you.
Your joy, your pain, Your anger and fear, Your overwhelming wonder
I watch as you roam Through each day of your life Like an open prairie
You make treasure Out of every dream, Every birth, every death, Every burst of wind and rain, Every ray of sun That warms your face, Like the world’s grace Will run dry by twilight.
Every tear you shed Sparks a fire in my chest.
I see you
-Marybeth Kurnat
II.
Advice to a Girl
No one worth possessing Can quite be possessed;
Lay that on your heart, my angry young dear. This truth, this hard and precious stone, Lay it on your hot cheek, let it hide your tear.
Hold it like a crystal when you are alone And gaze into the depths of the icy stone Long, look long, and you will be blessed: No one worth possessing can quite be possessed
-Sarah Teasdale
III. i have been a thousand different women make peace with all the women you once were lay flowers at their feet. offer them incense and honey and forgiveness. listen bless them and let them be for they are the bones of the temple you sit in now for they are the rivers of wisdom leading you toward the sea.
-Emory Hall
*Permission granted by the author
Composer’s Notes
Dear Madam President is my first work for treble voices, and perhaps the work I am most proud of. This piece began as a commission from a new friend who wanted to hold a benefit concert with a professional treble choir, featuring a woman at the piano and music exclusively by women composers After finding two poems that were destined to be paired together, this project grew into a twomovement work that looks optimistically into the future of a young girl A third movement was born months later through another commission for treble choir, and the work transformed into a coming-ofage time capsule.
The first movement, Empathy (Childhood), is set to a poem that I wrote a couple years ago about my lifelong best friend. She has always been the most fearlessly optimistic, enlightened person I know. She has a profound gift for finding beauty and value in every corner of existence Throughout her life, she she has changed the world around her with love and compassion
The second movement, Advice to a Girl (Adolescence), is Sara Teasdale’s stoic, steadfast text, warning this young girl of the ages-old obstacles and frustrations that are waiting for her and other women out in the world - but that she is fully empowered with what she needs to overcome them
The final movement, i have been a thousand different women (Inauguration Day) is an anthem on letting go of guilt and shame from the past, and embracing who you are in the present Drawing on her life experience, Emory Hall’s compassionate and candid poetry acknowledges the countless, difficult paths women take throughout their lives to survive before they can thrive - not with judgement, but with reverence and appreciation
Like so many other women in my country, I hope to see a woman elected president in my lifetime That said, it takes time, love and patience to raise a great leader, and there are so many young women in the world who don’t know their worth. I hope that this music emboldens its performers and listeners to reach out to young people in their lives - especially those that need extra support - and let them know how much the world needs their strength and heart
about the composer
Marybeth Kurnat (1987) is a rising voice in choral music in the Chicago area. Her authentic compositional style, especially her harmonic language, is heavily influenced by her musical foundation as a jazz saxophonist Her work, “I, Lover,” was the 2021-22 Winner of the Stephen Paulus Emerging Composer’s Competition. She was a 2023 Composition Fellow for the PREMIERE|Project Festival
Marybeth holds a B.M. in Music Education from Northern Illinois University, and serves as a music educator in DeKalb, IL She maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist and choral singer with several Chicago-area choirs.
www marybeth-kurnat com © 2023 emm bee kay music
S o p r a n o I
Mv t s. I and II of t hi s w ork commi ssi oned by t he G i v i ng Voi ces C ol l ect i v
S o p r a n o I I Al t o P i a n o
S o l o Tr i o S o p r a n o I S o