https://soundcloud.com/ben-nylander/apart

Using texts written by two different poets living almost a hundred years apart, In Agony, my Heart paints a portrait of two separated lovers suffering from their mutual loss of one another. The tenor, singing the text of “The Loss of Love” by Countee Cullen, has passed away. His lover, the soprano, survives him, mourning his loss with Charlotte Brontë’s text, “On the Death of Anne Brontë.” The man is unfazed by his death. He even seems to forget that he has died, so enveloped in loneliness and lost in a ghostly shadow of his former life. While the woman is distraught by her lover’s death, the man realizes that the worst part of death is the loss of love.

The physical separation of the two lovers is visibly portrayed in the two separate ensembles accompanying each vocalist. For a majority of the piece, each of the ensembles supports their own soloist, save for a few significant moments when the ensembles play in harmony or in unison. Several motifs are passed between the musicians, most importantly the haunting polytonality of a chord with mixed thirds. The music peaks with the two soloists singing the same musical line on different texts. The suggestion here is that despite their physical separation, the lovers are still deeply connected, emotionally and spiritually.

Conductor- Kevin Gryzbeck
Soprano- Emily Curto
Tenor- Benjamin Nause

Flute- Krista White
Oboe- Jonathan Lewis
Clarinets- Stacie Savoca, Rosemary Butterly
Bass Clarinets- Rebecca Schell, Jude Stefanik
Alto Saxophone- Emma Mooradian
Trumpet- Dylan Little
Violins- Briana Heinly, Jennie Lien, Madeleine Birk, Valerie Smith-Gonzalez
Violas- John Bentz, Ronnell Hodges
Cellos- Dustin Dicely, Victoria Meneses
Percussion- Carissa Sweet