For Terry Piano, Vocal - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1254469

One of my early attempts at writing an art song was an unsuccessful effort, in 2016, to set one of my brother’s poems. Terry’s texts had always seemed very elusive to me, full of literary allusions that he’d learned as an English major. Despite having set some texts by Countee Cullen the previous year, at the request of my dear friend, Darryl Taylor, I didn’t yet believe in my ability to write music, and gave on the project rather quickly. By 2019, however, I’d found my groove as a composer, so that when Louise Toppin asked me for some songs, I felt ready to take another run at setting my brother’s words to music.

Two of the poems are by Terry, and two were written—by me—about him. The idea of writing poems about my brother came from Shannon Ford-Jefferson, a poet and novelist, after I’d shared some of Terry’s work and some of mine with an online community of Black writers. When I learned that both Louise Toppin and I had lost our brothers when they were young (Terry died a few months after his 24th birthday), I invited her to read the texts that he and I had written, and we soon agreed on the poems that form this cycle.

“For Terry” expresses that even though I’ve had difficulty interpreting Terry’s poetry (though they seem more comprehensible lately), the beauty they possess is undeniable. In “L’orangerie,” my brother vividly conjures an orange grove in France. “Poem” is a “diss track” aimed a former friend or lover who expects more than he/she/they are willing to give in return. “The Visitor” evokes a dream I had about my brother after his death, followed by my attempt, over 30 years later, to process his passing. A quote from Mendelssohn’s “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” was included because my brother played the opening of the piece so beautifully. He never mastered the rest, however, and would demur when people asked him to continue, as if doing so would be showing off.