Scott Ordway
GIRL IN THE SNOW song cycle in eleven scenes 2018
Ordway, Scott. Girl in the Snow. Copyright 2018 Scott Ordway (BMI). All rights reserved.
GIRL IN THE SNOW Scott Ordway ( 2018 )
Soprano or mezzo-soprano & piano | 40 minutes Lyrics by Scott Ordway. “Memory Plays” created and adapted from lines of the Confessions by Augustine of Hippo (ca. AD 398), from the translation by Edward B. Pusey (1800–1882). First performance: November 8, 2018; Orangerie im Günthersburgpark; Frankfurt am Main. Julia Dawson, mezzo-soprano, Anna Naretto, piano; presented by Musica+ Frankfurt. Composed with support from the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts and the Curtis Institute of Music. 1.
The Fox in the Snow
2.
The Clean, Cold Air and the Great Blue Sky
3.
The Mystery of Home
4.
Memory Play No. 1
5.
The Owl, Asleep in His Tree
6.
The Grove of Quaking Aspens
7.
The Mystery of Love
8.
Memory Play No. 2
9.
The Rabbit, Warm in Her Burrow
10. The Mystery of the World 11. Memory Play No. 3
PROGRAM NOTE In Girl in the Snow, a woman near the end of her life reads the Confessions of Saint Augustine (ca. AD 398). In his better-known chapters, the North African philosopher and theologian Saint Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430) tells the story of his early life in elegant and deeply personal language. His early narrative centers on two main themes: his love for his mother, Monica, and his relentless (and effective) search for earthly pleasure. He goes on to describe a slow, inexorable process of spiritual struggle and awakening that is brought about by his travels in the ancient Mediterranean world, and by his work as a teacher of rhetoric. In his final chapters, Saint Augustine moves from autobiographical narrative to a more abstract meditation on the nature of memory. He considers the relationship between time and the mind, and creates a series of evocative physical metaphors to describe the mechanisms of remembering. These connections between landscape, memory, and spiritual awakening drew me to the Confessions as the basis for a new musical work. Reading these passages, the narrator of Girl in the Snow considers the events of her own early life and how they shaped her experience of the world. As Augustine describes “the fields and spacious palaces of [his] memory”, the narrator creates an imaginary forest in her own mind. Wandering over this snow-covered dreamland, she relives her first encounters with plants and animals, with trees and the sky, with rivers and the sea. She imagines the moment when she first understood what it meant to have a home. She imagines her first experience of love: the affection shown to her by her mother when she was an infant, when that love was her whole world, the only thing there was. She imagines the first time that she considered the enormity and the great mystery of the world, and when she first wondered how it all came to be. The song cycle alternates between these impossible-to-remember memories—images buried so deeply in her experience that they could never be recalled—and Augustine’s writings in which he describes the process through which we experience our past, our present, and our future. As the cycle draws to a close, the narrator slowly leaves her imagined forest, awakening to the present, and to the end of her life: “Everything is always ending / Only children remember heaven: The vast stillness, and the emptiness of time.” Her three readings from the Confessions are grouped together as “Memory Plays.” They share a restrained, ritualistic musical language in which repetitive, percussive piano accompaniment supports plain and folk-like melodic fragments. In the rest of the cycle, a mood of earnest, childlike simplicity is chased by a feeling of emptiness and quiet sadness. The narrator explores a place that cannot exist, a memory beyond the boundaries of remembering. —Scott Ordway
TEXT Lyrics by Scott Ordway. “Memory Plays” created and adapted from lines of the Confessions by Augustine of Hippo (ca. AD 398), from the translation by Edward B. Pusey (1800–1882). 1. The Fox in the Snow Good morning, my friend: It is a pleasure to find you here, It is a joy to have you near me. Good morning, my small friend: You are luck and you are chance And you are the very best of what’s to come. Where do you draw your deep breath, my friend? Where do you close your pretty eyes? Where do you go when the snow is blowing round and round? Where in the world do you go to rest your head? Standing here, alone and alive, How do I look to you? Show me your home, my friend: Show me the place you love the best And I will follow you. 2. The Clean Cold Air and the Great Blue Sky I remember everything: The clean cold air and the Great blue sky. I remember Taking the first step Into the bright morning, Alone but not afraid, Leaving the warmth of a good room And walking toward the sun. “Come with me!” I whispered to the trees; “Come with me!” I whispered to the little birds; “Come with me this time!” I whispered to the distant waves, Far away, where the rivers empty into the sea.
And the trees, so dark, so sharp, They came with me. And the little birds, singing with the breath of God, Which is in them too, They came with me. But the distant waves, So far away, where the rivers empty into the sea, They waited for me. 3. The Mystery of Home Hello! Is anyone there? Will anyone come out to greet me? May I address myself to someone To ask a kind word, or a smile? Hello! Is this your home? Is this the place you love the best? Is this the place you go to rest your head? Is this, perhaps, my home? Might I stop here, and through the window watch The spinning world, lost above the waves, Buried in the woods, drifting out in space, Deep in sacred sleep? Yes! By your kind grace I will stop a while, And through the open window I will show the world my face. 4. Memory Play No. 1 I do these things within, In that vast court of my memory. For there are present with me Heaven, earth, sea, and whatever I could think on therein, And what I have forgotten. There too I meet with myself, and recall myself, And when, where, and what I have done, And under what feelings. There is all I remember.
And so I speak to myself: and when I speak, Images of all I say are present, Out of the same treasury of memory. 5. The Owl, Asleep in His Tree Good night, my darling: I cannot see you, but I know you’re there, Sleeping, dreaming, alone above the world. Perhaps you’re dreaming of me? Or maybe you see a place you’ve seen before, And feel the air a different way, And hear the sound of distant waves, Falling on the land again, The great, deep breath of time itself. But please! Oh, please! Dream of me, too. I want to feel the air in a different way, And hear the sound of distant waves, And wander o’er that land again, And feel the breath of time itself: The air that holds your wings. 6. The Grove of Quaking Aspens Thank you, trees! Thank you for your warm welcome; I appreciate your comforting embrace. I am guided by your soft and thoughtful words, And careful not to take such things for granted. These enchanted woods have much to offer A lost and grateful soul just like my own. But much like every place I’ve known thus far, They also bring a measure of sadness, the deep and Beautiful sorrow that binds the world together And keeps our love from turning overwhelming. This flowering grove of aspen trees Reminds me that the world can speak so softly And tell me things at the edge of silence, Where only those at peace could hope to hear.
But oh! how glad I am to find myself Alive and wandering these bright, lonesome woods, Joined in ecstasy by all creation, Whispering in closest confidence. 7. The Mystery of Love All, I am yours. I am lost, but I know This world was made for me. I am love, And I am the goodness of all things. Let me stay with you. 8. Memory Play No. 2 For even though I dwell in darkness and silence, In my mind I can produce colors, And discern black and white. Nor yet Do sounds break in and disturb the image Drawn by my eyes, which I am reviewing, though they are also there, lying Dormant, laid up, apart. For sounds too I call, And though my tongue be still, and my throat Mute, so can I sing as much as I will. Yes, I discern the breath of lilies From violets, though smelling nothing; and I Prefer honey to sweet wine, smooth Before rugged, at the time neither Tasting nor handling, But only remembering. 9. The Rabbit, Warm in Her Burrow Go ahead my darling, Take my love for granted, Go ahead my darling, Set your mind to rest. Did you leave the forest When you went out walking?
Did you eat the green grass Growing by the river? How did you find the world today? Did you take what you needed and leave the rest? Did you bask in the sun and drink from the stream? Did these woods take care of you? Go ahead my darling, Close your eyes and sleep now, Let yourself become one With the home you’ve made. I can see you blinking, Drifting off to sleep now, Close your eyes and rest, dear, As the sun goes down. How long you wandered to find this place! How long you looked before you knew! But when you arrived, it set your heart to singing. When this place appeared, it put your mind to rest. How long the days can seem, How cold the nights can feel, How dark the winter’s day, When you’re searching for a home. Tell me, my darling: What do you remember Of those long days When you were much smaller? Tell me, my darling: Will you fall asleep now? Will you become one With the home you’ve made? Don’t forget to dream of Me as I’m passing By your graceful burrow, Out of the cold. Tell me, my darling: Will you fall asleep now?
Will you become one With the home you’ve made? When this place appeared, It put your mind to rest. 10. The Mystery of the World Everything is always ending. Only children remember heaven: The vast stillness, and the emptiness of time. Oh, would that I could join them there! Passing from this shining forest That has taught me, once again, To love the world, Leaving these anointed trees Resounding, together with the birds And all the living earth itself, And bringing forth the sacred peal That rings in silence, there behind The deep blue curtain of the sky And all throughout that holy, endless Night that binds the world together, A sound that echoes gently In the ears of those who listen: “Be still: you are home!” 11. Memory Play No. 3 I will pass beyond this power of my nature, Rising by degrees unto him who made me. And I came to the fields and the spacious palaces Of my memory, where are treasures Of innumerable images. When I enter there, I require What I will to be brought forth, And something instantly comes; others must be Longer sought after, which are fetched Out of some inner receptacle; others Rush out in troops, and while one thing is
Desired and required, they say, “Is it perchance I?” These I drive away with the hand of my heart, From the face of my remembrance; Until what I wish for be unveiled, And appear out of its secret place.
GIRL IN THE SNOW
Text and music by Scott Ordway (b. 1984)
1. The Fox in the Snow
Voice
Piano
Exuberant—rhythmic and precise ( = 66)
4
rit.
a tempo
rit.
a tempo
rit. a tempo
8
12
a tempo
rit.
poco rit.
Good
Copyright 2018 Scott Ordway (BMI). All rights reserved.
2
17
morn
-
-
ing
my
friend:
It
is
a
plea - sure
to
a tempo
you
here.
23
near
26
small
me.
friend:
It
is
a
joy
to
Good
You are
luck
and
morn
-
have
you
find
20
-
-
ing
my
you are
chance
And
29
you
molto rit.
32
are
come.
the
ver - y best
pret - ty eyes?
legato
Where
do you
dolce
38
Where in the world do you go
of
what’s
Con grandezza ( = 52)
poco rit.
to
to
Pìu calma
go
rest your
Where do you draw your deep breath, my friend?
35
when the
head?
Where do you close your
3
snow is blow - ing round and round?
Stand - ing
here
a
-
4
41
- lone
and a - live
poco rit.
How
do
I look
to you?
44
Show
Tempo I
me your home
my friend:
Show
me
the
46
place you love
the best
and
I
poco allarg.
will
and
I
will
fol - low you.
Voice
Piano
Tranquillo, ma con moto ( = 144)
molto legato
7
2. The Clean, Cold Air and the Great Blue Sky
I
11
I
15
re - mem - ber
ev
-
air,
A - lone
morn
but
poco rit.
Tempo I
in - to the bright - est
Great blue sky.
the
first step
rit.
clean, cold
tak - ing the
ery - thing, The
Poco largo e cantabile
re - mem - ber
not
-
ing.
a -
-
6
21
- fraid,
A -
warmth of a good
25
30
Poco pìu largo
“Come
36
with
but
poco rit.
and walk - ing
toward
room,
me!”
to the
I
whis - pered
“Come
with
fraid,
“Come
me
leav - ing the
with
this
me!”
poco rit.
-
a
a tempo
sun.
to the trees.
lit - tle birds.
the
a - fraid,
not
- lone
whis - pered
I
time!”
I
41
poco rit.
47
in
-
to
the
52
came
sea.
me.
which is in them, too,
with
56
poco rit.
Far
And the
the trees so
dark so
sharp they
with me.
emp - ty
sing - ing with the breath of God,
molto legato
lit - tle birds
a tempo
where the riv - ers
They came
way
And
a
whis - pered to the dis - tant waves,
a tempo
7
They came
with me.
8
61
poco allarg.
66
But the dis - tant
emp - ty
in
to the sea, They
wait
waves
-
ed
for
so
far
a
poco rit.
me.
a tempo
-
way where the riv - ers
for
me.
Moderato semplice ( = 60)
Voice
Piano
delicato
6
or
Is
Hel - lo!
Is
Is
May I ad - dress my - self to some - one to
sub.
Hel - lo!
a - ny - one there? Hel - lo!
a smile? Hel - lo!
a kind word
a - ny - one come out to greet me?
ask
11
Hel - lo!
Hel - lo!
a - ny - one there? Will
3. The Mystery of Home
this your home?
Is this the place you
this
21
riten.
this,
25
the place you
per - haps,
love the best? Is
my
Might I
go
home?
16
to rest the
place you go
animato
to
Sub. animato ( = 108)
here,
legato con ped.
rest your head? Is
stop
10
and
through
27
the
win
-
dow
watch
the
spin
-
ning world,
lost
a - bove
the
waves,
bur
-
ied
in
the
woods,
drift
-
ing
out
in
space,
36
in
33
31
29
-
-
Yes!
-
-
-
-
By
Deep
sac -
red
molto legato
your
-
-
-
-
-
grace
I
-
kind
In lo stesso tempo ( = 72) sleep.
11
-
will
-
12
41
stop
45
win - dow
I
a
-
while,
will
show
molto rit.
the
And
world
= ca. 44
my
through
the
face.
o - pen
Voice
Piano
5
Andante moderato ( = 64)
-
in that vast
ent
sea,
poco
13
senza accento
con ped. sempre L.H. sempre 8vb
pres
9
4. Memory Play No. 1
with
do
and what - ev - er
these
mem - o - ry.
things
heav - en,
I
court of my
me
semplice
and what
I
For there are
earth,
with - in,
espr.
I could think on there - in,
have
for -
14
17
- got - ten.
- call
29
un - der
23
my - self
and
There
what
poco
And so
34
I
too
I
where,
speak
and
what
There is
to
my
-
all
self:
I have
done
I
and when
I
speak
re - mem - ber
and
sub.
and re -
my - self
with
meet
when,
feel - ings.
41
im
out
44
-
ag
-
es
of the same
of
all
trea - su - ry
I
say
of
are
pre
mem - o - ry.
-
-
sent,
15
5. The Owl, Asleep in His Tree
Nocture: largo e molto tranquillo ( = 54)
Voice
Piano
dar - ling:
dream - ing,
a - lone
I can - not
cantabile
my
see
sleep - ing,
a tempo
Good - night
10
poco rit.
5
a tempo
poco
a - bove the world. Per - haps
poco rit.
you but I know you’re there,
you’re dream - ing
15
of
me?
poco rit.
Good - night,
may - be you see a place you’ve seen be - fore,
19
Pìu mosso, animando
22
27
poco rit.
hear the sound of dis - tant waves,
Fall - ing
As before ( = 54)
time
Good - night.
a tempo
it - self.
Or
And feel the
on
air a dif - fer - ent way,
cresc.
the land, The
great
deep
breath
And
of
cantabile
17
18
poco rit.
32
But
a tempo
please!
( )
Oh,
Dream of me, too!
please!
I want to feel the
air
dif - fer - ent way, And hear the sound of dis - tant waves, And
37
41
land
45
a - gain,
it - self:
And
feel
the
breath
The
air
that
time
of
wan - der o’er that
in a
holds your wings.
6. The Grove of Quaking Aspens
Allegro molto leggiero ( = 66)
Voice
Piano
4
sub.
7
10
Thank you,
trees!
20
14
18
Thank you
wel - come,
for your warm
I
ap
22
- ing
-
pre
-
ci - ate
your
em - brace.
I am
com
-
-
guid - ed
by your
-
-
-
fort
-
soft
and thought - ful
26
words,
And
care - ful
not to
take such things
for grant - ed.
These
30
en
-
chan -
-
-
- ted
woods
have
21
much
to
of
-
fer
33
A
lost
and
grate
-
-
-
ful
soul
just
like
36
molto leggiero
40
my
own.
legato
But
much like
ev - er - y
place I’ve
known thus
far,
They
22
44
al - so
48
bring
riten.
( )
that binds
54
that the world
a
mea - sure of
This
can speak so
sad - ness,
the world to - geth - er,
59
Beau - ti - ful
rit.
grove
soft - ly,
deep and
a tempo
flow’r - ing
the
sor - row
Pìu calma
and keeps our love from turn - ing o - ver - whelm - ing.
And
of
tell me things
as - pen trees
Re - minds me
at the edge of
23
65
si
-
lence,
Where on - ly
72
hear.
75
cresc. molto
Agitato ( = ca. 136)
those
accel.
at
peace
could
hope
to
77
oh!
how
am
to
glad
I
But
find
my
-
81
- self
A
84
-
live
wan
-
87
woods,
Joined in
ec
-
sta
-
-
sy
der - ing
These
-
bright,
and
by
lone
all
-
some
24
90
cre
-
a
-
-
-
25
-
-
-
-
tion.
93
Whis - per - ing in
clos
-
est
con
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
fi
ritardando
-
-
- dence.
-
96
Voice
Piano
Largo espressivo ( = 48)
All,
con ped. sempre
All,
espr.
3
7. The Mystery of Love
All,
5 I
am
yours,
7
I
am
lost,
But
I
know
this world
was
9
made
I
am love
I
am
love
15
me.
for
13
11
27
And
poco string.
I
cresc. poco a poco
am
28
17
a tempo
19
Let
Let
the
good - ness of
all things.
Let
me
rit. pochiss.
with
stay
23
poco rit.
21
very freely
with
you.
with you.
let ring
Voice
Piano
8
dark - ness
and si - lence,
- cern black and white.
13
yet
= 44
For
do sounds break
In my mind
I
in
and dis - turb
And dis -
Nor
the im - age
in
dwell
col - ors,
cantabile delicatiss.
can pro - duce
e - ven though I
With solemn dignity
5
8. Memory Play No. 2
drawn
by
my eyes.
30
16
which I
ly - ing,
23
27
sub.
am
19
re - view - ing,
espr.
And
Dor - mant,
laid up,
For
still,
though they are
a - part.
though my tongue be
al - so
there,
and my throat
I
Mute,
too
cantabile delicatiss.
sounds
poco
call,
so I
31
35
vi - o - lets,
I
I
dis - cern the breath of
and
rug - ged,
I
pre - fer
li - lies
at
I
will.
Yes,
smooth be - fore
noth - ing;
will.
though smell - ing
to sweet wine
as
much
42
as
can sing
39
31
From
hon - ey
the
time
32
49
on
nei - ther
46
-
-
tast - ing
ly
53
cantabile delicatiss., as before - ing.
56
re
-
mem
nor
re -
-
ber
-
ing.
- mem -
han - dling,
-
-
- ber
-
But
-
-
-
Voice
Piano
Easy and free = ca. 92
5
9. The Rabbit, Warm in Her Burrow
Take my love for grant - ed,
8
11
for - est
Grow - ing by the riv - er?
a - head my dar - ling,
When you went out walk - ing?
How did you find
Go
Did you leave the
the world
Go a - head my dar - ling,
Set your mind to rest.
Did you eat the green grass
to - day? Did you take what you need - ed and
34
15
leave
the rest? Did you
poco rit.
20
woods take care
24
of
27
Tempo I
you?
I
can see you blink - ing,
in
bask
Close your eyes and sleep now,
Poco pìu largo
rit.
the
sun
Drift - ing
off
drink
Let your - self be - come
and
to sleep
one
now,
from the
stream? Did these
molto leggiero Go
a - head my dar - ling,
With the home you’ve made.
con ped. sempre
Close your eyes and rest,
dear,
30
- fore
when
How cold the
you
put your mind to rest.
nights can feel,
it
set your heart to
How long the
rumbling—indistinct—very light
How dark the
win - ter’s day,
How long you looked
ar - rived,
How long you wan - dered to find this place!
When this place ap - peared it
43
you knew! But
39
As the sun goes down.
34
35
be -
sing - ing.
days can seem,
When you’re search - ing
36
48
for
53
Of
a
those
56
home.
long
Will you fall
a - sleep
Don’t for - get
to dream
delicate and brittle
days
59
now?
of
Tempo I
( softer than before )
Tell me, my dar - ling, What do you re - mem - ber
poco rit.
Will
you
be - come
me
as
one
I’m pass - ing
Tell
a tempo
When you were much small - er?
me,
my
dar - ling,
With the home you’ve made?
rit.
By your grace - ful bur - row,
62
Out
of
65
68
Will
you
be - come
put your mind
one
Tell
me,
my
dar - ling,
slower
the cold.
a tempo
71
37
With the home you’ve made?
When this place ap - peared,
to rest.
slower still
put
to
rest.
a - sleep
now?
cantabile
put your mind
Will you fall
it
your mind
to rest.
Con dolcezza ( = ca. 48)
Voice
Piano
4
10. The Mystery of the World
end - ing.
7
vast
On - ly
chil - dren
still - ness
and the
rit.
of
a tempo
heav - en,
time.
cantabile, dolce
The
is al - ways
re - mem-ber
emp - ti - ness
Ev - ery - thing
sub. Oh,
11
would
14
world,
19
cresc. poco a poco
Leav - ing
could
that has
join
them there!
cresc.
- ge - ther with the birds
that I
Pass - ing from this shin - ing for - est
16
39
and
taught me once
these
to love the
a - noint - ed trees Re - sound - ing,
all the liv - ing earth
a - gain
to
it - self,
And bring - ing forth the
-
40
22
25
of
- out
the sky
And
all
ho - ly
end
-
be - hind
cresc.
the
sub.
deep
blue
binds
cur - tain
through - out
less night that
a tempo
there
that
si - lence,
molto rit.
29
in
sa - cred peal that rings
through -
this
world
to -
33
- ge
-
ther,
37
40
ears
A
those
Be
still:
sound
who
you
are
-
- ten:
the
lis -
In
sempre
of
43
that ech - oes gent - ly
molto espr.
41
home.
Voice
Piano
5
9
Con semplicità = 72
sempre 8vb, con ped. throughout
mem
-
And I
came
mute string lightly with R.H. throughout the sound should still be quite resonant
pass be - yond this pow - er of my na - ture,
13
11. Memory Play No. 3
and
o - ry, where are treas - ures Of in - nu - mer - a - ble
sub.
I
will
Ris - ing by de - grees un - to him who made me.
to the fields
semplice
spa - cious pal - a - ces
im - ag - es,
of my
pìu espr.
17
When
22
will
I
en
be
27
oth - ers must be long - er
30
- cep - ta - cle;
and
-
re
what
some - thing in
Oth - ers rush out
re - qui
sought af - ter,
I
forth
sotto voce a tempo
there
brought
ter
to
-
43
-
I
poco rit.
-
stant - ly
comes;
which are fetched out of some in - ner
in
troops,
and
while
one
re -
44
34
thing
-
-
is
38
- qui
47
red
42
- chance
they
sub.
a tempo
I?
de -
- si -
say,
is
per -
desolate
-
it
These I drive a - way
-
poco allarg.
re
and
- red
sempre
with the
52
55
hand
of
- til
what
- pear
I
from the
A
wish
-
way.
be
of
its
se -
-
un -
- veiled
- cret
place.
way.
un
-
and
ap
-
- brance;
A
re - mem -
for
out
my
of
face
63
my heart,
59
45
Wyoming—Philadelphia Summer 2018