Acknowledgments Don Walker All of the songs on this album were recorded at The Thoughtfulness of Thirst the Unitarian—Universalist Church in Berkeley, EMILY DICKINSON POEMS . Engineer for the two recording sessions in August and September 2015 was Mark Lemaire. Ann Moss, s o p r a n o Front and back covers by Ellen Amsterdam Walker Karen Rosenak, p i a n o

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1633 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2016 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. The Composer Don Walker (b. 1941, Ventura CA) attended (BA 1964) and the University of California, Berkeley (MA 1966; PhD 1971). While a graduate student there, he studied composition with Larry Austin, Arnold Elston, Richard Felciano, and Seymour Shifrin. He was recipient of the University of California’s Ladd Prix de Paris in Musical Composition (1966-68). Following receipt of his PhD, Walker worked in the UC Berkeley Library for three years while studying at the University of California Library School from which he received a Master’s degree in Library Science (1974). During the 1970s Walker also taught in the music departments of Sonoma State University, the University of South Florida, and Oregon State University. During the 1980s, Walker was employed as a church organist in Stockton, California, during which time he returned to graduate school, and ultimately earned an MA in History at Sacramento State University (1991). He was then employed from 1991 through 2003, as Archivist at the University of the Pacific. There, among other duties, he was project archivist for the beginnings of the Dave Brubeck Collection. Awards received by the composer include: an NEH grant for the study of ethnomusicology at the University of Washington in Seattle (1977) and a Composer in the Community Grant with the Oakland (Calif.) Chamber Orchestra (1997). Walker is now retired and lives near San Diego, California. Sometime, he dwelleth in the grass! From The Composer The Texts Sometime, upon a bough, I have written 11 symphonies, 5 operas, many works for wind and string ensembles (including 14 From which he doth descend in plush string quartets), 14 piano sonatas, and much vocal music. Their styles vary greatly from work to This Whole Experiment of Green Upon the Passerby! work since I often borrow material and procedures from jazz, ethnic and popular music, freely mixing #1333 consonance with dissonance and tunefulness with abstraction. A little Madness in the Spring All this in summer. I had discovered the music of Charles Ives in the late 1950s while still in high school and I Is wholesome even for the King, But when winds alarm the Forest Folk, was exhilarated by his free use of whatever he wanted to use — that, and his manifest deep feeling. But God be with the Clown — He taketh Damask Residence — Pieces like these were what I wanted to write and how I wanted to proceed…to embrace all of the Who ponders this tremendous scene — And struts in sewing silk! history of western and world music techniques and to use them with feeling. This whole Experiment of Green — I have always loved Emily Dickinson’s poetry for its fresh insights, unique imagery, and depth As if it were his own! Then, finer than a Lady, of feeling. She has given me a chance to sense that I know her, and, often, to wish that I could Emerges in the spring! actually have been her friend. My response has been to create many cycles of Emily songs, most of #161 A feather on each shoulder! them focused upon subjects of particular concern to both of us: nature, love, religion and death. A feather from the Whippoorwill You’d scarce recognize him! All of my Emily settings are intuitively composed. I have freely drawn from an unregulated That everlasting — sings! triadic palette that seems to me best — suited to her modes of self-expression, and, have sought to Whose galleries — are Sunrise — By Men, yclept Caterpillar! reveal, as openly and sincerely as I can, my feelings for her. Whose Opera — the Springs — By me! But who am I, In order of composition, the present cycles are: Four Dickinson Songs (1975); This Whole Whose Emerald Nest the Ages spin To tell the pretty secret Experiment of Green (2007); The Thoughtfulness of Thirst (2007); Four Poems of Emily Dickinson Of mellow — murmuring thread — Of the Butterfly! (2008); A Fact Withheld the Little Child (2012); and God & Emily (2015). Whose Beryl Egg, what Schoolboys hunt I have also set other Dickinson poems for mixed chorus: Emily’s Four Seasons (2007-08) and Four In “Recess” — Overhead! #164 Dickinson Songs (2008). In addition, I have written an opera about Emily’s brother’s affair with Mabel Mama never forgets her birds, Loomis Todd (Past the Hedge) in which Emily has two arias which may be heard on this recording. #173 Though in another tree — A fuzzy fellow, without feet, She looks down just as often Yet doth exceeding run! And just as tenderly Of velvet is his Countenance, As when her little mortal nest And his Complexion, dun! With cunning care she wove — If either of her “sparrows fall,” She “notices” above. #251 #182 I woke — and chid my honest fingers, And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard — Over the fence — If I shouldn’t be alive The Gem was gone — And sore must be the storm — Strawberries — grow — When the Robins come, And now, an Amethyst remembrance That could abash the little Bird Over the fence — Give the one in Red Cravat, Is all I own — That kept so many warm — I could climb — if I tried, I know — A Memorial crumb. Berries are nice! #255 I’ve heard it in the chillest land — If I couldn’t thank you, To die — takes just a little while — And on the strangest Sea — But — if I stained my Apron — Being fast asleep, They say it doesn’t hurt — Yet, never, in Extremity, God would certainly scold! You will know I’m trying It’s only fainter — by degrees — It asked a crumb — of Me. Oh, dear, — I guess if He were a Boy — With my Granite lip. And then — it’s out of sight — He’d — climb — if He could! Past The Hedge Aria Four Poems of Emily Dickinson A darker Ribbon — for a Day — #441 #605 A Crape upon the Hat — #1129 This is my letter to the World The Spider holds a Silver Ball And then the pretty sunshine comes — Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — That never wrote to me — In unperceived Hands — And helps us to forget — Success in Circuit lies The Simple News that Nature told And dancing softly to Himself Too bright for our infirm Delight With tender Majesty His Yarn of Pearl — unwinds — The absent — mystic — creature — The Truth’s superb surprise That but for love of us — As Lightning to the Children eased Her message is committed He [plies from Nought to Nought — Had gone to sleep — that soundest time — With explanation kind To Hands I cannot see — In unsubstantial Trade — Without the weariness. The Truth must dazzle gradually For love of Her — Sweet — countrymen — Supplants our Tapestries with His — Or every man be blind — Judge tenderly — of Me. In half the period — #254 “Hope” is the thing with feathers — #245 An Hour to rear supreme That perches in the soul — I held a Jewel in my fingers — His Continents of Light — And sings the tune without the words — And went to sleep — Then dangle from the Housewife’s Broom — And never stops — at all — The day was warm and winds were prosy — His Boundaries — forgot — I said, “‘Twill keep” —

[from ED correspondence w/ sister in law The Thoughtfulness of Thirst Day knocked — and we must part — Subtract Thyself, in play, re nephew’s death] Neither — was strongest — now — And not enough of me #186 Gilbert rejoiced in secrets — He strove — and I strove — too — Is left — to put away — What shall I do — it whimpers so — His life was panting with them — We didn’t do it — tho’! “Myself” meant Thee— This little Hound within the Heart — With what menace of light he cried All day and night with bark and start — “Don’t tell Aunt Emily !” #818 Erase the Root — no Tree — And yet; it will not go — Now my ascended playmate I could not drink it, Sweet, Thee — then no me — Would you untie it, were you me — Must instruct me…. Till you had tasted first, The Heavens stripped — Would it stop whining — if to Thee — His life was full of boon — Though cooler than the Water was Eternity’s vast pocket, picked — I sent it — even now? The playthings of the Dervish The Thoughtfulness of Thirst. Were not so wild as his — #781 It should not tease you — No crescent was this Creature — #47 To wait an Hour — is long — By your chair — or, on the mat — He travel’d from the Full — Heart ! We will forget him! If love be just beyond — Or, if it dare — to climb your dizzy knee — You and I — tonight! To wait Eternity — is short – Such soar, but never set — Or — sometimes at your side to run — You may forget the warmth he gave — If Love reward the end — I see him in the Star, When you were willing — I will forget the light! And meet his sweet velocity Shall it come? In everything that flies — Tell Carlo — Four Emily Dickinson Songs (1975) His life was like the bugle, When you have done pray tell me He’ll tell me! #199 Which winds itself away, That I may straight begin! I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that — His elegy an echo — Haste! lest while you’re lagging #190 That other state — His Requiem ecstasy — I remember him! He was weak, and I was strong — then — I’m Czar — I’m “Woman” now — Had you known it, So He let me lead him in — #587 It’s safer so — A crowned creature from Eternity I was weak, and he was strong then — Had cross’d your threshold Empty my Heart of Thee — So I let him lead me home — How odd the Girl’s life looks On a mission of heavenly love, Its single Artery — Begin — and leave Thee out — Behind this soft Eclipse — To teach you priceless lessons. ’Twasn’t far — the door was near — Simply Extinction’s Date — I think that Earth feels so ’Twasn’t dark — for He went — too — Much Billow hath the Sea — To folks in Heaven — now — ’Twasn’t loud, for He said nought — One Baltic — They — That was all I cared to know. This being comfort — then #738 If things were opposite — and Me And often since, in Danger, That other kind — was pain — You said that I “was Great” — one Day — And Me it were — that ebbed from Thee I count the force ‘twould be But why compare ? Then “Great” it be — if that please Thee — On some unanswering Shore — To have a God so strong as that I’m “Wife” ! Stop there ! Or Small — or any size at all — Would’st Thou seek so — just say To hold my life for me Nay — I’m the size suit Thee — That I the Answer may pursue #643 Unto the lips it eddied through — Till I could take the Balance I could suffice for Him, I knew — Tall — like the Stag — would that ? So — overtaking Thee — That tips so frequent, now, He — could sufice for Me — Or lower — like the Wren — It takes me all the while to poise — Yet Hesitating Fractions — Both Or other heights of Other Ones God & Emily And then — it doesn’t stay — Surveyed Infinity — I’ve seen ? #576 #376 “Would I be Whole” He sudden broached — Tell which — it’s dull to guess — I prayed, at first, a little Girl, Of Course — I prayed — My syllable rebelled — And I must be Rhinoceros Because they told me to — And did God Care? ’Twas face to face with Nature forced — Or Mouse But stopped, when qualified to guess He cared as much as on the Air ’Twas face to face with God — At once — for Thee — How prayer would feel — to me — A Bird — had stamped her foot — And cried “Give Me” — Withdrew the Sun — to Other Wests — So say — if Queen it be — If I believed God looked around, My Reason — Life — Withdrew the furthest Star — Or Page — please Thee — Each time my Childish eye I had not had — but for Yourself — Before Decision — stooped to speech — I’m that — or nought — Fixed full, and steady, on his own ‘Twere better Charity And then — be audibler Or other thing — if other thing there be — In Childish honesty — To leave me in the Atom’s Tomb — With just this Stipulus — Merry, and Nought, and gay, and numb, The answer of the Sea unto I suit Thee — And told him what I’d like — today — Than this smart Misery. The Motion of the Moon — And parts of his far plan Herself adjust her Tides — unto — #881 That baffled me — Could I — do else — with Mine? I’ve none to tell me to but Thee The mingled side So when Thou failest, nobody. Of his Divinity — It was a little tie — It just held Two, nor those it held Since Somewhere thy sweet face has spilled Beyond my Boundary — #377 A Fact Withheld The Little Child #1703 How well I knew the Light before — To lose one’s faith — surpass ’Twas comfort in her Dying Room I could see it now — #1445 The loss of an Estate — To hear the living Clock — ’Tis Dying — I am doing — but Death is the supple Suitor Because Estates can be A short relief to have the wind I’m not afraid to know — That wins at last — Replenished — faith cannot — Walk boldly up and knock — It is a stealthy Wooing Inherited with Life — Diversion from the Dying Theme #654 Conducted first Belief — but once — can be — To hear the children play — A long — long Sleep — a famous Sleep — By pallid innuendos Annihilate a single clause — But wrong the more That makes no show for Morn — And dim approach And Being’s — Beggary — That these could live By Stretch of Limb — or stir of Lid — But brave at last with Bugles And this of ours must die. An independent One — And a bisected Coach #1601 It bears away in triumph Of God we ask one favor, #692 Was ever idleness like This ? To Troth unknown That we may be forgiven — The sun kept setting — setting — still Upon a Bank of Stone And Kindred as responsive For what, he is presumed to know — No Hue of Afternoon — To bask the Centuries away — As Porcelain. The Crime, from us, is hidden — Upon the Village I perceived — Nor once look up — for Noon? Immured the whole of Life From House to House ‘twas Noon — #1149 Within a magic Prison. I noticed people disappeared We reprimand the Happiness The Dusk kept dropping — dropping — still — When but a little child — That too competes with Heaven. No dew upon the Grass — Supposed they visited remote But only on my Forehead stopped — Or unsettled Regions wild — #502 And wandered in my Face — Now know I — They both visited At least — to pray — is left — is left — And settled Regions wild Oh Jesus — in the Air — My Feet kept drowsing — drowsing — still — But did because they died I know not which thy chamber is — My fingers were awake — A fact withheld the little child. I’m knocking — everywhere — Yet why so little sound — Myself Thou settest Earthquake in the South — Unto my Seeming — make? And Maelstrom, in the Sea — Say, Jesus Christ of Nazareth — Hast thou no Arm for Me ? The Performers Complete List of Don Walker’s Compositions for Solo Voice & Piano Soprano Ann Moss, a native of Boston and a graduate of the Longy School of Music and the Conservatory, currently resides and Songs on Letters of Benjamin Franklin (1961-65) Stephen Crane Songs (2006) teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, violist Justin Ouellet. Moss is an ardent champion of contemporary vocal music, and, Hart Crane Songs (1962) Robinson Jeffers Songs (2006) in addition to working closely with well-known composers such as Jake Gertrude Stein Songs (1965; 1973) ee cummings songs (2006) Heggie, John Harbison, and Wayne Peterson, Ann seeks out and performs music by emerging voices at forums and festivals Herman Melville Songs (1967; 1982) This Whole Experiment in Green (Dickinson) (2007) across the USA. As a co-founder and Artistic Director of the new music repertory group CMASH, Ann Moss has been personally responsible for Spiro Agnew Songs (1969) The Thoughtfulness of Thirst (Dickinson) (2007) the commissioning and premieres of more than 80 art songs, vocal chamber music and operatic roles. Her debut album Currents, produced Harrie Alley Songs (1972; 1979) Ann Bradstreet Songs (2008) and recorded by Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound (2013) features vocal chamber music Ann has Emily Dickinson Songs (1975; 1979) Helen Hunt Jackson Letters to Emily Dickinson (2010) championed over the past decade. Her second album, Love Life, made with pianists Steven Bailey and Jake Heggie, cellist Emil Miland, violinist Isaac Allen, and the vocal ensemble Chanticleer, is Theodore Roethke Songs (1979) Edward Arlington Robinson Songs (2011) slated for release in Spring 2016. William Stafford Songs (1980-81) Vachel Lindsay Songs (2011) Pianist Karen Rosenak is a long-time member of the Empyrean Ensemble and a founding member of San Francisco’s new music ensemble, Earplay. Walt Whitman Songs (1981) On the Tomb of Emily Georgiana of Winchelsea (2012) On the Musicianship faculty at UC Berkeley since 1990, she was in William Carlos Williams Songs (1982) A Fact Withheld the Little Child (Dickinson) (2012) residence for the year 2008 at Amherst College, holding the Valentine Professor Chair in Music. There she taught composition, harmony, species Ezra Pound Songs (1983) Songs from The Wasteland (TS Eliot) (2012) counterpoint, and musicianship and performed in solo and chamber music concerts. She completed her DMA at StanfordUniversity in keyboard Wallace Stevens Songs (1983) African Images (Alice Walker) (2013) performance practices and theory, and, while she admits a special affinity for keyboard music of the early Classical period, she also finds Delmore Schwartz Songs (1984) God & Emily (Dickinson) (2015) the challenge of tackling a piece of fresh new music irresistible. Rosenak has recorded (2011) an entire album of piano music by Don Walker (Vienna Modern Masters, VMM 2058). Don Walker The Thoughtfulness of Thirst

Four Songs of Emily Dicknson (1975) [6:12] 20 I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that — [1:30] 21 I could suffice for him, I knew, [1:40] Don Walker (b. 1941) 22 You said that I “was great,” one day, [1:17] Emily Dickinson Songs 23 I’ve none to tell me to but thee, [1:45] God & Emily (2015) [8:02] EMILY DICKINSON POEMS 24 I prayed at first a little girl, [2:50] This Whole Experiment of Green (2007) [9:39] Arias from Past the Hedge [4:55] 25 Of course — I prayed — [1:10] 1 A little Madness in the Spring [1:13] 12 This is my letter to the world [1:20] 26 To lose one’s faith — surpass [1:00]

TROY1633 2 A feather from the Whippoorwill [:50] 13 Gilbert rejoiced in secrets — [3:35] 27 Of God, we ask one favor, [1:20] 3 A fuzzy fellow, without feet, [2:04] 28 At least — to pray — is left — is left — [1:42] 4 Mama never forgets her birds, [1:03] (2007) [8:29]

The Thoughtfulness of Thirst

5 Over the fence — [1:08] 14 What shall I do — it whimpers so— [1:37] A Fact Withheld the Little Child (2012) [8:10] 6 The Spider holds a Silver Gall [2:14] 15 He was weak, and I was strong — then — [1:52] 29 Death is the supple Suitor [1:45]

7 If I shouldn’t be alive [1:04] 16 I could not drink it, Sweet, [1:00] 30 I noticed people disappeared, [:50] TROY1633 17 Heart! We will forget him! [1:30] 31 ’Twas comfort in her dying room [1:45] Four Poems of Emily Dickinson (2008) [7:40] 18 Empty my Heart, of Thee — [1:30] 32 The sun kept setting, setting still, [2:25] 8 Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — [2:10] 19 To wait an Hour — is long — [1:00] 33 A long, long sleep, a famous sleep, [1:25] EMILY DICKINSON POEMS 9 I held a Jewel in my fingers — [1:30] Total Time = 55:19

10 To die — takes just a little while — [2:25] 11 “Hope” is the thing with feathers — [1:35] Ann Moss, s o p r a n o | Karen Rosenak, p i a n o

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1633 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 The Thoughtfulness of Thirst TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643

ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2016 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. Don Walker