DESCRIPTION:
San Francisco Conservatory of Music presents the Graduate Composition Recital of Shase Hernandez in Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. To learn more about SFCM's Composition Department, visit https://sfcm.edu/composition


As Adam Early in the Morning - SATB
Shase Leland Hernandez, composer
www.shasehernandez.com
See the music here: http://goo.gl/r4kgUA

For a more "definitive" version please watch the International Chorale of San Francisco's performance of the premiere as conducted by Zane Fiala: http://youtu.be/B_UJimHIvPU

Text:
"As Adam Early in the Morning" - Walt Whitman

As Adam early in the morning,
Walking forth from the bower, refresh'd with sleep;
Behold me where I pass—hear my voice—approach,
Touch me—touch the palm of your hand to my Body as I pass;
Be not afraid of my Body

Program Note:
"I was immediately struck by the tight form and structure of this piece when I first played through it, and it was further convincing to hear it performed. The cascading "mm" refrain really holds it together, and I admire the restraint and willingness to take your time -- not selling this text, but serving it."
-An Anonymous Judges Comments

While the text is clearly written from the perspective of the biblical figure Adam it was my intention through my original solo voice setting to dispel the male-centric message and instead refocus it on Eve. This time, however, I strayed even further from the male-centric viewpoint of the text. I thought of the poem instead as "world-centric" or "human-centric."

In the opening, I imagined angels (or the earth or universe) attempting to awaken Adam. They hum to him and whisper his name to which they eventually sing the phrase, "Behold me where I pass, hear my voice, approach." Much like a soft proclamation of their "holy" status (granted I do not mean this in such a strict biblical sense as it would be hard to connect Whitman with any sort of divine being). Here begins, however, my attempt to prevent the song from really being about Adam or Eve. Since the females sing this line it is almost as though Eve is proclaiming this phrase and yet later when it reappears the men sing it and so in this way I have ensured that both "Adam" and "Eve" proclaim this line.

This piece is treated as something of a fantasia to allow the text to express a multitude of messages and meanings with a recurring ritornello in "Adam" to help bind the piece together. The poem ends with the line, "Be not afraid of my body." To me, this is a reflection of mankind and that we should not be afraid of each other and as such the men and women sing this line in unison, decentralizing the original intent of the poem.

Performers:
soprano:
Stephanie Dietz
Sara Hagenbuch
Anneka Quellhorst
Ann Elena Rodier

alto:
Julia Barwick
Anna Bush
Emma Logan
Anne Polyakov

tenor:
Nick Benavides
Chris Ramos
Collin Whitfield

bass:
Christopher Filipowicz
Kenji Oh
Andrew Vickers

Shase Hernandez, conductor

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