Baritone & Piano Piece (posting performance recording & sheet music)

[Kento]

Hey guys! I had the opportunity to perform a baritone & vocal piece I wrote for my friend recently, and I thought I'd post it on here as well for feedback. I screw up a bit playing the piano part (not the singer), but you get the general gist of it from hearing the performance, I think. I tried to make it so the piano is more active and has a more prominent role in expressing the text than most art songs.

You can hear the MP3 with the link below or in the attachment:
http://www.box.net/shared/875odeizei

& Here's the text:

A drop of rain slid
down the window and I
shattered it with the tip of my
finger.

There are two kinds of gentle:
the soft and the
regretful.

I saw you standing next to my
(sleeping?) form two, three nights
ago--
hard whispers whistled through
the nighted house and
secrets took place,
here and there.

Trust me: I'm hacking through
all these words and images
floating through my brain:
not knowing if
I'm finding a single shred of meaning.

--but there is love and beauty in
this field for sure; fresh and ready
for a muddled harvest.

[Adrian Allan]

Impressionistic and melancholic at its best.

I have very little to say about this apart from well done. You are certainly one of the most accomplished and professional composers here.

Although this style of art song may not be to everybody's taste, there is no doubting the skill and ingenuity of your setting, and the variety and interest shown in the piano accompaniment.

[Kento]

Thanks!! I like the two words you used to describe it, that was what I was intending on projecting as well (inevitably it creates a bit of a French sound). I struggled with whether the piano should be so present in the piece (on equal grounds with the voice), but I when I wrote the beginning piano part, I felt it was so appropriate for the text, I tried to write the rest of the piece in a way that would make sense a large piano section in a vocal-piano piece.

Adrian Allan said:

Impressionistic and melancholic at its best.

I have very little to say about this apart from well done. You are certainly one of the most accomplished and professional composers here.

Although this style of art song may not be to everybody's taste, there is no doubting the skill and ingenuity of your setting, and the variety and interest shown in the piano accompaniment.

[Kento]

Yes, when I heard the recording I was a little shocked how well the mixing was; it makes the counterpoint in the piano more present, which I think adds to the vocal line if it's not too dominating, especially with the last stanza.

Per-Erik Rosqvist said:

I think it sounds good. I think the space given to the barytone and the piano is even in the recording, and that works fine. I like how the piano (when not listening to the lyrics) gives you another story that is just as interesting.

Very wellplayed and well-composed. Good singer as well.

Can't come up with anything bad at the moment, but will listen more to this one, for sure.

[Andrew Gleibman]

Beautiful!

[Jonathan White]

Well done I especially like the resolution at 49

[Ario]

Lovely, just lovely...

Those who sing modern music really earn my respect.
Those who write as nice to let a singer reach that status... you know...

Keep on writing!

Ario