Walt Whitman's Song of Myself is a sprawling commentary on life's possibilities, and it gives my song collection (I won't call it a cycle) its title. The poem speaks eloquently of Whitman's awe and love - what else could explain lines like those below?:

Yes, I know this fragment is so well-known as to be clichéd and that many others have set these words, but I love it anyway!

    Amy Lowell's poetry is among the most evocative I have ever found. The sheer sensuality of this little poem (printed below) is overpowering and its sentiment is eternal.

      The original score (now lost) specifies medium voice with "synthesizer or other keyboard", along with viola. I had worked out a pleasant voice on a Yamaha DX7 synth, and had a printout of the settings - but now I cannot find it. It was a sweet, slightly persistent, organ/voice/woodwind sound, and if I ever find it I will post it here.

      I liked this gentle, slightly minimalistic song so much that when I was asked to write a score for a play called A Sea Liturgy, about life in an Irish fishing village, I re-used the melody and set to it the words of the Lord's Prayer. It worked very nicely, the villagers intoning the prayer and myself playing the synthesizer in the accompanying ensemble. The description of this choral work may be found at this link.

      But I still wasn't finished with it: You may find its final incarnation as the second of my "3 Inevitable Songs arranged this time for soprano, harp, flute and viola (Credo, below and similarly rewritten, has become the first of that set). In fact, for a complete listing of my works based on Amy Lowell's poetry, including settings for chorus and orchestra, please click on the link.

     Mention Edwin Arlington Robinson, and someone is bound to say,"Oh! Depressing!" What nonsense! This sonnet, at least, is an example of shining optimism in the face of the void, and my setting for mezzo-soprano, viola and piano, is very successful if I may say so! Oh, and as of 2014, it also exists as the first of my Three Inevitable Songs (see also A Decade, above), with the addition of a flute and a harp.

     My setting of John Masefield's Prologue was first performed at the 35th anniversary concert of the Canadian Music Centre in Calgary, with Elsie Hepburn as soprano soloist accompanied by flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano, in a poem which I find irresistible. It speaks of stirring music, of marching men "...who trod a way unseen by mortal eye / with life for bread, with ecstasy for friend / their very substance that which cannot die...", and of the poet's earnest wish to go with them. Who are these men? The great thinkers? The Enlightened masters? To me they symbolize our wish for something better, for a life of soaring joy.

LISTEN to other orchestral works of Ronald Hannah

    At left is a link to the piano/voice version of "Gone Home", written on a poem of my own father, Lowell Hannah, who died in 1986. The song exists in several other formats as well: SATB with piano; SATB a cappella; and SATB with orchestra (click the lower link to see an extensive list of further works with orchestra.

    Lowell Hannah was an amateur poet, one of those whose naturally poetic and musical inclinations were thwarted by the Great Depression and World War 2. I have to say he was not a great poet, though I loved him dearly, and I have looked at his little book many times over the years, being disappointed always to find that I simply did not find a poem that I felt suitable for a song setting. It took a family tragedy to bring his work to life: my daughter's boyfriend died of cancer. One of dad's poems had been written for friends who had lost a child, and I realized that with a few small changes it would work for my daughter's situation. At last I could set something of his and pay tribute to my daughter's young man and her ensuing courage in dealing with his loss. I was delighted and saddened at the same time.

    "Gone Home" is unusual in my output in that it is heavily jazz influenced. I love the expressive possibilities of jazz and have often marvelled at its complex harmonies. Those sounds somehow seemed to suit this poem, and perhaps they will even make the song more approachable to people who still find modern harmonies forbidding. So might the occasional references to "Rock of Ages", a hymn beloved of my father. You can see how much I like this piece by the fact that I have re-written it for several ensembles! The version for chorus and orchestra was premièred by Clyde Mitchell and the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra in 2010, with myself singing tenor in the chorus. Email me if you would like to hear a recording (rather overexposed and noisy - the microphone was under the steps upon which we were standing).

    All of the songs are in my freely tonal, somewhat dissonant style (except for #5 as noted), and require strong performers both in their techniques and in their hearts. To obtain parts, please visit the Canadian Music Centre, or email me (below). I'll be happy to send them, but only if you inform me of any performances. I beg people on every page of this site to send me such details so that I can keep my Performances page current, but almost no one does! I'd like to know how famous I am becoming :)