''Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson'' is a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...

for medium voice and piano by the American composer

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

. Completed in 1950 and lasting for just under half an hour, it represents Copland's longest work for solo voice. He assigned the first line of each poem as the song title,

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

having not titled any of the pieces. The exception is "The Chariot", which was Dickinson's original published title. Each song is dedicated to a composer friend. The sequence, with dedicatees, is: # Nature, the Gentlest Mother ( David Diamond) #There Came a Wind Like a Bugle (

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...

) #Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven? (

Ingolf Dahl Ingolf Dahl (June 9, 1912 – August 6, 1970) was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. Biography Dahl was born Walter Ingolf Marcus in Hamburg, Germany, to a German Jewish father, attorney Paul Marcus, and his Swedi ...

) #The World Feels Dusty (

Alexei Haieff Alexei Vasilievich Haieff (August 25, 1914 – March 1, 1994) was an American composer of orchestral and choral works. He is known for following Stravinsky's neoclassicism, observing an austere economy of means, and achieving modernistic effects ...

) #Heart, We Will Forget Him! ( Marcelle de Manziarly) #Dear March, Come In! (

Juan Orrego-Salas Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas (January 18, 1919 – November 24, 2019) was a Chilean composer, musicologist, music critic, and academic. Life and career Born Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas in Santiago on January 18, 1919, Orrego-Salas studied at the C ...

) #Sleep Is Supposed to Be (

Irving Fine Irving Gifford Fine (December 3, 1914 – August 23, 1962) was an American composer. Fine's work assimilated neoclassical, romantic, and serial elements. Composer Virgil Thomson described Fine's "unusual melodic grace" while Aaron Copland noted ...

) #When They Come Back (

Harold Shapero Harold Samuel Shapero (April 29, 1920 – May 17, 2013) was an American composer. Early years Shapero was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on April 29, 1920. He and his family later moved to nearby Newton. He learned to play the piano as a chi ...

) #I Felt a Funeral in My Brain (

Camargo Guarnieri Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (February 1, 1907 – January 13, 1993) was a Brazilian composer. Name Guarnieri was born in Tietê, São Paulo, and registered at birth as Mozart Guarnieri, but when he began a musical career, he decided his first name ...

) #I've Heard an Organ Talk Sometimes (

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buenos ...

) #Going to Heaven! (

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

) # The Chariot ( Arthur Berger) Copland himself acknowledged that many have heard the influence of

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, and

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

in the songs. In his own memoirs, he made the link between Dickinson's and Mahler's preoccupation with death, however he stated that he recognized no direct musical influence. Nonetheless, writers have frequently cited the fifth song in particular, "Heart, We Will Forget Him!" as being Copland at his most Mahlerian. This is perhaps even more evident the orchestral setting, which he began in 1958. Completed in 1970, ''Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson'' for small orchestra omits 3, 8, 9 and 10 from the original sequence. The original version was premiered at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on 18 May 1950, with soloist Alice Howland accompanied by the composer.http://www.shirleymohr.com/JHU/Sample_Articles_JHUP/EDJ_2003_12_1.pdf It was not especially well-received by critics, prompting Copland to note wryly to

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, "that I decided I must have written a better cycle than I had realized." The premiere of the orchestration was given on 14 November 1970 at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York City, with soloist

Gwendolyn Killebrew Gwendolyn Killebrew (August 26, 1941 – December 24, 2021) was an American operatic contralto and mezzo-soprano who worked in Germany and internationally, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She performed in the 1971 wor ...

and the Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Tilson Thomas subsequently recorded the cycle for EMI with

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland in Basel since 1985. She is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish c ...

and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Both versions have been recorded many times since their respective premieres.

Discography

* No. 3: "Why Do They Shut Me Out Of Heaven?", with Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano) and Martin Katz (piano), CBS, 1982

References

{{Portal bar, Classical music Song cycles by Aaron Copland Classical song cycles in English 1950 compositions Music dedicated to family or friends Death in music Emily Dickinson