Tilson Thomas WHITMAN SONGS

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

WHITMAN SONGS

for Baritone & Orchestra

Text by Walt Whitman

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

WHITMAN SONGS

for Baritone & Orchestra

Text by Walt Whitman

1. Who Goes There?

2. At Ship’s Helm

3. We Two Boys Together Clinging

Instrumentation

Baritone Solo

Flute (dbl. Piccolo)

Oboe

Clarinet Bassoon

2 Horns in F

2 Trumpets in C Tenor Trombone

Percussion

Anvil Glockenspiel Xylophone

Snare Drum

Suspended Cymbal

Medium Tam-Tam

Large Tam-Tam

Ship's Bell (E♭)

Wind Machine

Chimes

Crotales

Tenor Drum

2 Triangles

Vibraslap

Harp

Piano (dbl. Celesta) Strings

Duration: approx. 16’

Composed: 1993/1994

World Premiere, Piano/Vocal Version: Amsterdam, Concertgebouw, May 1998. Thomas Hampson, baritone; Michael Tilson Thomas, piano

World Premiere, Orchestral Version: San Francisco, September 1999 Thomas Hampson, baritone; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; San Francisco Symphony

Revised Version: 2023/2024 Thomas Hampson, baritone; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor; New World Symphony

Definitive Edition: June 2025

Composer’s Notes: In my early thirties I began reading Walt Whitman, starting with Leaves of Grass. The encounter, particularly with Song of Myself, was transforming. Whitman’s life work is revolutionary, and it helped me deal with the big question of “Who am I?” One of the answers Whitman gave me was, “I am an American.”

The musical language of the Whitman Songs are a blend of several styles, including folk song, rock and roll ballads, and lyrical Broadway. This breadth of reference poses a challenge to the singer. The songs need a fearless baritone with an easy top who, in addition to being good at lieder and opera, needs to feel comfortable with popular music. Writing these songs for Thomas Hampson has been an essential part of the joy and urgency that I hope they convey

These songs follow a journey from dissonance to consonance. Who Goes There?, from Song of Myself, is the toughest of the three, with the most hard-edged harmonies and the most jagged vocal line. At Ship’s Helm, from Sea-Drift, is a lyrical interlude in a slower tempo. We Two Boys Together Clinging, from Calamus, is a march, even though it is often in three-four time. Its harmonies are firmly triadic. The opening lines, “We two boys together clinging/One the other never leaving,” suggests a sentimental genre, but in fact the poem is a crescendo of determination and strength, culminating in the military image of “fulfilling our foray.”

& bbbb ? bbbb∑ & bbbb ? bbbb ? bbbb∑

1. Who Goes There?

& bbbb & bbbb & bbbb

? bbbb & bbbb & bbbb & bbbb & bbbb ? bbbb

Trumpet 2 in C

Tenor Trombone

2. At Ship's Helm

for Robert Osborne

3. We Two Boys Together Clinging