Daniel Ladinsky’s elegant modern renderings of the works of Hafiz have introduced countless readers to this ancient Sufi poet's powerful philosophy of gratitude, openness and joy. This generosity of spirit is captured in this warm and expansive setting.
Vocal Ranges: low: f#-b" ~ medium: a-d" ~ high: d'-g"
Item | Instrumentation/Voicing | Duration | Level | Audio | Peruse | Delivery Method (Print vs. Digital) | Price | Quantity |
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SEA-094-00 | low voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M | https://www.seafarerpress.com/sites/seafarerpress.advantagelabs.com/files/works_variant_audio_files/recording-alexander-a_love_like_that-low_voice_cello_and_piano-excerpt.mp3 |
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Sheet Music | $7.00 | |
SEA-094-00DEL | low voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M | https://www.seafarerpress.com/sites/seafarerpress.advantagelabs.com/files/works_variant_audio_files/recording-alexander-a_love_like_that-low_voice_cello_and_piano-excerpt.mp3 |
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Licensed PDF | $7.00 | |
SEA-094-01 | medium voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M |
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Sheet Music | $7.00 | ||
SEA-094-01DEL | medium voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M |
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Licensed PDF | $7.00 | ||
SEA-094-02 | high voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M |
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Sheet Music | $7.00 | ||
SEA-094-02DEL | high voice, piano - Piano/Vocal Score | 4' | M |
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Licensed PDF | $7.00 |
As a scholar, I am inclined to carefully scrutinize the texts I set to music, making sure they are authentic, accurate and properly attributed. Years of university training lead me to research sources, question assertions, and take great care with my facts. However, as a composer and musician, my behavior is more apt to lean towards that of a eager lover or bright-eyed magpie. I say this with neither pride nor shame, but instead with self-knowledge, for artists are well known to love shiny things: beauty, delight, patterns, color, intoxicating sounds, musical turns of phrase, and ideas which open the mind and heart.
It was with both minds that I approached the lyrical and engaging work of poet Daniel Ladinsky. Neither a purist nor an academic, Ladinsky's popular Hafiz-inspired renderings have inspired passionate debate among poetry lovers, Sufi scholars, and Farsi speakers, all trying to ascertain to what extent these poems are translations, as opposed to original poems. For this reason, I waited a long time before setting a Hafiz/Ladinsky poem to music, but in the end, the magpie in me won out. Spontaneous gratitude knows no restraint: I composed this song as a simple offering to the power of limitless generosity, in honor of my parents' 50th wedding anniversary
Premiere: Ruth MacKenzie and Elizabeth Alexander (St. Paul, Minneapolis, Rochester and Mahtomedi, MN)
Amy Darrow and Julie Sherlock (Ludington, MI)
Deborah Berioli (Venice, FL)
Jane Baumer. First Unitarian Church of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Kris-Anne Weiss and Ruth Palmer (St. Paul, MN)
Laura Fott and Susan Snyder (Nashville, TN)
Marti Mendenhall and Elizabeth Alexander. UUMN National Conference (Madison, WI)
Ruth MacKenzie and Ruth Palmer (St. Paul, MN)
Ruth MacKenzie, Jacqueline Ultan and Elizabeth Alexander. Open Eye Figure Theater (Minneapolis, MN)
Sarah Ponder Brock (Chicago, IL)
Women's Ensemble of Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah / Kelly Blackmarr Carlile (Savannah, GA)
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