When I am Dead, My Dearest

When I am Dead, My Dearest (2005)

for unaccompanied vocal trio (Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Mezzo Soprano)

Text by Christina Rossetti

Duration: approx. 3 minutes

The song cycle Rossetti Songs began life in early 2004 under the title White Sustenances, but didn’t settle into its current four-song format until Eve vocal trio (Greta Bradman, Emma Horwood and Christie Anderson) premiered the completed work in July 2005. The exquisitely beautiful poetry of Christina Rossetti was the defining force that brought the songs together into what I fell is a well-rounded song-cycle.

Despite the themes of love, death and despair, I find an inherent beauty in these lyrics, and find the language Rossetti uses particularly feminine, strong and evocative. I have used both church modes and exotic modes to match the mood changes within the text, reflecting the narrator’s changing state of mind from light to dark, from hope to melancholy.

This song, When I am Dead, My Dearest, is the fourth and final in the song cycle. The other songs are Remember Me, Song, and Echo.

Purchase of this score permits the owner to reproduce enough scores for performance by vocal trio.