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A set of five songs for baritone and piano set to poems from Walt Whitman. Taken from his posthumously published collection, Live Oak With Moss, the poems are some of Whitman’s most openly queer works.
I. World Secret - (A2-E4)
Is that feeling of nervous giddiness when one has a secret that they are so are so desperate not to tell but so obviously giving away through their expression.
II. Louisiana Oak - (Bb2-Eb4)
Tells of an oak that stands alone, with nothing and no one around it for companionship and yet still flourishes. The author compares himself to this sight, marveling at this wonder, and confessing that he would be unable to also to survive and flourish in the tree’s position.
III. Holy Spirit - (B2-F#4)
Is a secret love letter from the author to their admirer, telling how just being near to this person fills them with an “electric fire”. In this pseudo-religious music setting the fire takes on a holy or spiritual connotation.
VI. Subtle Wonderment - (A2-E4)
Recounts an experience the author had where in they compare the wonders of the world around them and how these wonderments that might inspire other to write paled in comparison with the simple and quiet interaction between two men on a pier.
V. Dream Land - (B2-Eb4)
Details a dream of the author where all peoples were happy and safe in their ability to be themselves. It is a yearning for a place were men might be able to know and to treat each other with “manly love”.
A set of five songs for baritone and piano set to poems from Walt Whitman. Taken from his posthumously published collection, Live Oak With Moss, the poems are some of Whitman’s most openly queer works.
I. World Secret - (A2-E4)
Is that feeling of nervous giddiness when one has a secret that they are so are so desperate not to tell but so obviously giving away through their expression.
II. Louisiana Oak - (Bb2-Eb4)
Tells of an oak that stands alone, with nothing and no one around it for companionship and yet still flourishes. The author compares himself to this sight, marveling at this wonder, and confessing that he would be unable to also to survive and flourish in the tree’s position.
III. Holy Spirit - (B2-F#4)
Is a secret love letter from the author to their admirer, telling how just being near to this person fills them with an “electric fire”. In this pseudo-religious music setting the fire takes on a holy or spiritual connotation.
VI. Subtle Wonderment - (A2-E4)
Recounts an experience the author had where in they compare the wonders of the world around them and how these wonderments that might inspire other to write paled in comparison with the simple and quiet interaction between two men on a pier.
V. Dream Land - (B2-Eb4)
Details a dream of the author where all peoples were happy and safe in their ability to be themselves. It is a yearning for a place were men might be able to know and to treat each other with “manly love”.