Love song (2025)

for two voices

5'

Instrumentation:

The two voices may be chosen freely, but ideally they should contrast in character-one high and one low, for example, a soprano and a tenor.

Performance notes:

The piece is based on a line from Sappho 31, translated by William Carlos Williams:

at t h e mer e si gh t of you m y voi ce f al t ers , m y t on gue i s b r ok en.

This line is divided between the two voices into vowels and consonants.

Voice 1 consists of all the vowels found in the sentence:

| a | e | e | i | o | ou | oi | a | e | y | o | ue | i | o | e |

Voice 2 consists of all the consonants:

| t | th | m | r | s | ght | f | y | m | v | c | f | lt | rs | m | t | ng | s | br | k | n |

Both vowels and consonants should be pronounced as they sound in the words. The goal is to create the

impression that both voices are forming the words together.