The poems of Emily Dickinson, famous Amherst resident, will be the basis for a musical suite by New Zealand composer Christopher Marshall, commissioned by the Amherst Regional High School Wind Ensemble to mark the town’s 250th anniversary. The commissioned work, “An Emily Dickinson Suite,” will premiere on Monday, June 1 at Amherst College’s Buckley Recital Hall.
Marshall, a well established composer known for unconventional works for band, was genuinely inspired by Dickinson’s poems and caused him to compose the suite in a manner that was unusual for him:
“I think this is one of the most beautiful - and certainly one of the most unusual - melodies I have ever written,” Marshall wrote in a recent e-mail to Brian Messier, director of bands at Amherst Regional High School. He was referring to the suite’s opening movement based on Dickinson’s “Letter to the World.”
Much to the acclaimed composer’s surprise, “It came to me fully formed,” he said. “I’ve never heard these poems read aloud - haven’t even read them aloud to myself. They just jumped off the page and into the music . . . This is not the usual way this happens for me.”
In addition to “Letter to the World,” the suite includes interpretations of “To Hear an Oriole Sing,” “I’m Nobody,” “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,” “A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!,” “How Happy Is the Little Stone,” “If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking,” and “Hope Is a Thing With Feathers.” The moods range from “mischievous” to “somber.”
Messier learned of the composer’s affinity for Emily Dickinson in a newsletter Marshall had written saying he had set some of Dickinson’s poems to chorale music. Messier approached Marshall with the idea of a commission, noting the relationships between Amherst, Dickinson, Marshall’s inspiration by Dickinson’s poems, and students’ inspiration by Marshall’s music.
Marshall traveled to Amherst in December to work with students as part of the composing/commissioning process, as well as listen to the American premiere of his composition, “Okaoka.” Messier thought it was essential for Marshall to listen to the Wind Ensemble and work with students before the final notes of the suite was written:
“I think it’s important to spend time with the students. It makes it a much different experience for them,” Messier said. “Instead of writing a piece for a generic ensemble, he knows what he’s writing for. He can adapt to our strengths and weaknesses. The students get excited and I think we’ll have more successful commission as a result.” Messier also pointed out that the event has been publicized as a community event, raising visibility for the importance of the arts in the public schools.
The Amherst Regional High School students are fundraising to pay for the commissioned work, so far earning $7,000 of the $10,000 needed to pay for the original composition by selling calendars and citrus fruit. His travel expenses are being covered by the family of a wind ensemble member.
reprinted by persmission from Mass Music News Spring 2009, Volume 57