The Pasture

Z. RANDALL STROOPE, American composer & conductor; SATB/piano or chamber orchestra; Robert Lee Frost, poet; U.S. publisher - Colla Voce (#45-21102); Duration 5:00
BASIC LIBRARY, J.W. Pepper

I dedicated this work to my daughter, Aubrey.

NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER
I grew up on a ranch in New Mexico, and the quiet, gentle love of nature was something I experienced on a daily basis. One learns to "listen" to the sound of the breeze, birds in the distance, and every part of the wonder of creation. I wrote this work in a straight-forward, uncluttered fashion, preserving the innocence and reflective nature of the countryside and the poetry. (Sometimes the most effective compositional device is "simplicity" and "staying out of the way.") My mother was a wonderful visual artist, and she would often say to me, "The frame is as important as the picture." In THE PASTURE, I strove to bring attention to the picture (text) by framing it in the innocence of nature.

This is a work about relationships - "even a task as simple as walking through the pasture to clean the water spring is better - is more enjoyable - if you are with me. YOU make even the most mundane task beautiful."

TEXT
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring
[I shan't be long]
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
[I shan't be long]
And wait to watch the water clear, I may
I shan't be gone long
You come too

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother
It's so young
It totters when she licks it with her tongue
I shan't be gone long
You come too

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