Aria: "Ashes are the bread I eat" (1983)
For mezzo-soprano and piano / Text: Bible [from oratorio LAMENTATION] (4:30) Publisher: Subito Music Corp. *Commissioned through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts by the Gregg Smith Singers, Philadelphia Singers, Dale Warland Singers and I Cantori (Los Angeles) First Performance: Gregg Smith Singers and Florilegium Chamber Choir, May 1985 Others: Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Sigma Alpha Iota; Georgia State University; University of Minnesota |
"The most moving piece was an aria from 'Lamentation,' a large-scale oratorio dating from 1982. The aria's biblical text ['Ashes are the bread I eat'], which deals with the Jews' exile into Babylonia, was set in a straight forward, atmospheric, syllabic manner. Its stark piano accompaniment and long-breathed, darkly eloquent melodic line (adapted from fragments by the Renaissance madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo) proved extremely apposite." - The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION
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Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
First Performance: Queens College, CUNY, March 1974
Others: Indianan University of Pennsylvania; University of Alabama - Huntsville
First Performance: Queens College, CUNY, March 1974
Others: Indianan University of Pennsylvania; University of Alabama - Huntsville
"Harmonie du Soir" (Baudelaire)
"Chanson d'Automne" (Verlaine)
"Claire de Lune" (Verlaine)
"Dans l'Interminable ennui de la plaine" (Verlaine)
"Depart" (Rimbaud)
"Chanson d'Automne" (Verlaine)
"Claire de Lune" (Verlaine)
"Dans l'Interminable ennui de la plaine" (Verlaine)
"Depart" (Rimbaud)
Texts in French
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*Commissioned by Michael Trimble, Cleveland Institute of Music
First Performance: April 1975
Others: Alliance Française de New York; Cincinnati Conservatory; Baudelaire conferences
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*Commissioned by Michael Trimble, Cleveland Institute of Music
First Performance: April 1975
Others: Alliance Française de New York; Cincinnati Conservatory; Baudelaire conferences
"Haunting settings of delicate verses...." - STEREO REVIEW
"...vocal line of great beauty and lyricism supported and enhanced by the piano part. An important contribution to American song literature." - AMERICAN MUSIC
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"Of special interest are five French songs; Zaimont brings a fresh and individual response to poems by Verlaine and Baudelaire that have attracted generations of celebrated composers." -BOSTON GLOBE
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“Eternal is Thy Pow’r, O Lord”
(Aria from SACRED SERVICE: see Orchestral )
For medium high voice and piano (or organ)
Publisher: American Art Song for the Sacred Service 2004
Performed: world-wide / Classical Vocal Reprints, #CVR 3834
www.classicalvocalrep.com
(Aria from SACRED SERVICE: see Orchestral )
For medium high voice and piano (or organ)
Publisher: American Art Song for the Sacred Service 2004
Performed: world-wide / Classical Vocal Reprints, #CVR 3834
www.classicalvocalrep.com
Text: e.e. cummings (9:00)
"anyone lived in a pretty how town"
"three wealthy sisters"
"the sky"
"most people"
"anyone lived in a pretty how town"
"three wealthy sisters"
"the sky"
"most people"
"She is Left on the Ice"
"Passion: The First Dream"
"Lullaby: he Second Dream"
"Counting Song: The Third Dream"
"Lament -- Interlude - Lullaby"
"Vision"
"She Dies"
"Passion: The First Dream"
"Lullaby: he Second Dream"
"Counting Song: The Third Dream"
"Lament -- Interlude - Lullaby"
"Vision"
"She Dies"
Text: Frank Buske
Publisher: Jeanné, Inc.
*Commissioned by the North Star Consort through a grant from the Exxon Fund for the University of Alaska.
First Performance: Bayreuth, Germany, May 1982
Others: Carnegie Recital Hall; Kansas State University; St. Louis; CAMI Hall (NYC); International Clarinet Congress (London); College Music Society; Radio Station WQXR (NYC); Lousiana State University; Indiana University; etc.
Publisher: Jeanné, Inc.
*Commissioned by the North Star Consort through a grant from the Exxon Fund for the University of Alaska.
First Performance: Bayreuth, Germany, May 1982
Others: Carnegie Recital Hall; Kansas State University; St. Louis; CAMI Hall (NYC); International Clarinet Congress (London); College Music Society; Radio Station WQXR (NYC); Lousiana State University; Indiana University; etc.
"A tremendously effective song cycle." - BIRMINGHAM NEWS
"Powerful and inspired, Zaimont's chromatic language is appropriate for such a dark subject.... Her ingenious use of instrumental color, such as the Alaskan pan drum, keeps our imagination churning. The dusky mezzo-soprano croons a series of dreams and memories; ... her use of the clarinet mouthpiece to produce devilish effects suggesting sound of the wilderness, is especially imaginative." - WOMEN OF NOTE QUARTERLY
"In eight sections, the cycle is dramatic, theatrical, and very effective."
- The BALTIMORE SUN |
"The major work on the recital was From the Great Land. This is a large, dramatic and evocative work." [International Clarinet Congress, London, England, August 1984] - THE CLARINET
"The seven songs cover a wide range of emotional and theatrical expression, describing life in the cold north. Several thoughtful, free, and quite beautiful sections, contrasted with sections of powerful dramatic intensity ... A rather unusual text and its most effective setting." - NATS Journal
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Goldi's Wish (2013)
Ariette for soprano and piano (1:12) Text: Doris Lang Kosloff First Performance: Vox Novus, NY: March 2013 - soprano Jenny Greene "Goldi's Wish", a one-minute mini-aria for soprano and piano, is adapted from my opera-for-all-ages, Goldilocks and The Three Bears, a Subito publication. What drives Goldilocks away from home to seek adventures in The Three Bears’ woods? This newly-written number illustrates why: Goldi yearns for freedom from parental constraints: “Just let me be me!" |
"Soliloquy" (Millay)
"Let It Be Forgotten" (Sara Teasdale)
"A Season's Song" (Millay)
"Love's Autumn" (Millay)
"Entreaty" (Christina Rossetti)
"Let It Be Forgotten" (Sara Teasdale)
"A Season's Song" (Millay)
"Love's Autumn" (Millay)
"Entreaty" (Christina Rossetti)
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
"Soliloquy" issued separately by Galaxy Music (E.C. Schirmer) in American Art Song Anthology, Vol.I
First Performance: CAMI Hall, NYC, November 1975
Others: Around the world
"Soliloquy" issued separately by Galaxy Music (E.C. Schirmer) in American Art Song Anthology, Vol.I
First Performance: CAMI Hall, NYC, November 1975
Others: Around the world
"Zaimont is clearly a composer of the first rank and her music deserves the widest circulation... A wide range of moods is also tellingly delineated here; there is much variety of atmosphere from song to song and Zaimont clearly possesses a keen sense of characterization, pacing, and drama. Zaimont invariably composes excellently for both voices and instruments."
- NEW MUSIC CONNOISSEUR |
"Judith Lang Zaimont's 'Greyed Sonnets', a fine setting of five poems, is strongly emotional, suiting the texts, yet carefully constructed." - (Raymond Ericson) The NEW YORK TIMES
"A very moving cycle to women poets by Judith Zaimont." - (John Rockwell) The NEW YORK TIMES
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“All are love poems – poems, though, of love in the shadow of pain and death, of unhappy memories and of the desire to forget, expressive of the feelings of women whose loves have died. The interaction of seasonal cycles and the non-renewing pattern of individual human life and death on earth govern this subtle cycle, a cycle which once again confirms the astuteness of Zaimont’s eye for suitable poetic texts.” - MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL
In the Theatre of Night: Dream Songs on Poems of Karl Shapiro (1983)
For high voice and piano (29:00) Publisher: Galaxy Music (E.C. Schirmer) Commissioned for the First International Petit Jean Art Song Festival -Theodore Presser Publication Award - On repertoire list for Carnegie/Rockefeller competition: vocal music First Performance: Conway, Arkansas, May 1983 Others: Peabody Conservatory; Sounds from the Left Bank series (NY); Baldwin Studios; Manhattan School of Music; St. Louis Conservatory; Arizona State University; Adelphi University |
"These reflections on the war and the Holocaust, characterized by the contrast of little, lyrical interludes
with angular settings of longer texts, are moving." - The BALTIMORE SUN
with angular settings of longer texts, are moving." - The BALTIMORE SUN
"First Flower Song"
"Firefly Song"
"Storm Song"
"A Spell to Destroy Life"
"Second Flower Song"
"Elegy Dream Song"
"Firefly Song"
"Storm Song"
"A Spell to Destroy Life"
"Second Flower Song"
"Elegy Dream Song"
Text: American Indian texts
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
First Performance: New Haven, CT, March 1983
Others: Heckscher Museum - Long Island ; Contemporary Music Forum (Washington, DC)
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
First Performance: New Haven, CT, March 1983
Others: Heckscher Museum - Long Island ; Contemporary Music Forum (Washington, DC)
"A colorful and commanding work. This is contemporary music you really want to hear again." - THE NEW RECORDS
"This is a piece of considerable poetic and incantatory power. Zaimont has freely allowed the words to stimulate her musical imagination, and a 'magic world' of compelling rhythmic energy, provocative instrumental textures and haunting melismatic melody is the impressive result."
- OVATION |
"Highly imaginative...a fascinating sonic context. Versatile treatment of the poetic elements maintains a high level of interest throughout. Zaimont's range of creative possibilities is unencumbered by partisan prejudices, resulting in one of the most satisfying 'New Romantic' pieces that I have heard." - FANFARE
“An interesting and distinctive cycle … powerful and striking”. -MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL
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"Exhilarating and sometimes spectacular replication of the Indian's spirit and creed -- his flower songs, his ghost dance, his storm song stamping a whirlwind, lightnings, thunder and great rains, his mystic, destructive spells." - DESERET NEWS
"Miss Zaimont's 'Nattens monolog,' with a text by Dag Hammerskjold, is a progression of shifting scenes and moods, all hovering around the idea of death. Its elegant piano accompaniments, the greatly varied but always coherent melodic writing made this piece intensely interesting and at moments quite beautiful." - The NEW YORK TIMES
"Fair Daffodils" (Herrick)
"When, Dearest" (Suckling)
"The Eagle" (Tennyson)
"It is a Beauteous Evening" (Wordsworth)
"The Host of the Air" (Yeats)
"When, Dearest" (Suckling)
"The Eagle" (Tennyson)
"It is a Beauteous Evening" (Wordsworth)
"The Host of the Air" (Yeats)
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*Commissioned by David Arnold
First Performance (complete): University of Southern Mississippi
*Commissioned by David Arnold
First Performance (complete): University of Southern Mississippi
"Piping Down the Valley Wild"
"Elegy: The Garden of Love"
"I Asked a Thief"
"How Sweet I Roam'd"
"Elegy: The Garden of Love"
"I Asked a Thief"
"How Sweet I Roam'd"
Text: William Blake
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*Commissioned by Gregg Smith
* Winner of the Los Alamos International Wind/String Composition, 1978
First Performance: Cubiculo Theatre, NYC, March 1974
Others: Memphis New Music Festival; Northwestern University; University of Minnesota
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*Commissioned by Gregg Smith
* Winner of the Los Alamos International Wind/String Composition, 1978
First Performance: Cubiculo Theatre, NYC, March 1974
Others: Memphis New Music Festival; Northwestern University; University of Minnesota
“Effective imitative writing… lovely interplay.”
- MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL |
"Showed great depth and feeling."
- MEMPHIS PRESS-SCIMITAR |
"Vibrant and effective."
- NEW MUSIC CONNOISSEUR |
The Statue - Hero of Exiles (2017)
For soprano, violin, cello, and piano (7:00) Text: adapted from the writings of Emma Lazarus (including The New Colossus) Publisher: Subito Music Corp. *Commissioned by Close Encounters with Music First Performance: Daneille Tarantes and Close Encounters with Music , June 2017 |
"At Dusk in Summer" (Adrienne Rich)
"The Ruined Maid" (Thomas Hardy)
Publisher: Lyra Music (10:10)
*Commissioned by the New York State Music Teachers Association
First Performance: November 1978 - Saratoga, NY
Others: College Music Society; Society of Composers, International; Res Musica Baltimore
"The Ruined Maid" (Thomas Hardy)
Publisher: Lyra Music (10:10)
*Commissioned by the New York State Music Teachers Association
First Performance: November 1978 - Saratoga, NY
Others: College Music Society; Society of Composers, International; Res Musica Baltimore
“Some passages are rhapsodic, some fierce and clipped... An attractive, particularly effective piece.” - MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL
"Very clever, professional treatments of interesting texts. Neither song goes on a note longer than it should. Zaimont's work has both quality and personality." - HIGH FIDELITY
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"Imaginative settings for voice and harp." - AMERICAN MUSIC
"Though this marvelous, exuberant pair of songs scarcely constitutes a 'cycle,' it does fully exploit the meaning of the poetry, especially as realized in the finely wrought performance." - NOTES
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"Judith Lang Zaimont's two songs for high voice and harp were for me real high points. The harp writing is substantial, varied, sonorous, and idiomatic without clichés; the vocal lines are gracious and expressive, with a relaxed and accurate treatment of text prosody. I can't see any forward-looking harpist keeping these out of personal repertoire." - Barney Childs, PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC
Vessels: Rhapsody for Mezzo and Piano (1991)
Text by Rosalyn Roffman (14:30) Publisher: Subito Music Corp. * Commissioned for the Second Festival of Women Composers -- Indiana University of Pennsylvania through grants from the University and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts First Performance: Sarah Mantel, mezzo and Susan Wheatley, piano, Festival Co-Directors, March 1991 Others: Northwestern University, Minnesota Music Teachers Association |
Text: Eudora Welty, slightly adapted by the composer from The Golden Apples; used by permission (11:00)
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
Sound files on the Internet at www.oeuvre.com.au
* Commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Richard B. Wilson Jr.
First Performance: Millsaps College (Jackson, MS)
Others: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota, New York, Mississippi
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
Sound files on the Internet at www.oeuvre.com.au
* Commissioned by Mr. and Mrs. Richard B. Wilson Jr.
First Performance: Millsaps College (Jackson, MS)
Others: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota, New York, Mississippi
“The first setting interweaves the two voices quite beautifully in music of considerable poignancy, the second is splendidly comic and alert as the words relate Virgie Rainey’s struggles with the piano, with which she has a decidedly troubled relationship – there are some mock-clumsy evocations of Beethoven and some fine moments engagingly poised on the boundary between the comic and the melodramatic.” - MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL
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Text: Bible: Proverbs 31
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*CommissiIoned by Cantica Hebraica
First Performance: November 1978
Others: Eastman School of Music; Gettysburg College; Baltimore Women's Symphony; Univ. of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Publisher: Subito Music Corp.
*CommissiIoned by Cantica Hebraica
First Performance: November 1978
Others: Eastman School of Music; Gettysburg College; Baltimore Women's Symphony; Univ. of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
“Very beautiful. Each section sings.” - ClassicalNet
"A very lyrical work which perfectly sets the mood to express the words of the text. The string writing is very idiomatic and provides a sensitive accompaniment." - WOMEN OF NOTE QUARTERLY
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“A beautifully lyrical piece, in which the music is closely responsive to the text. The writing for string quartet is both elegant and forceful..” - MusicWeb INTERNATIONAL
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