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Feb 9, 2010 · John Duke wrote 265 songs between 1920 and 1984, a period of over sixty years. After 1960, he wrote only songs. Half of his songs were written after his retirement from Smith College in 1967. Approximately one hundred of his songs remain unpublished. His first published songs appeared as "singles" and in song anthologies.
- Marlene Wong
- 2010
- Just-Spring*
- Water that Falls and Runs Away+
- i carry your heart*
- The Mountains Are Dancing*
- April Elegy
- Good morning, Midnight
- Let down the bars, Oh Death
- The Bird
- Little Elegy
- All Music, All Delight
- She’s Somewhere in the Sunlight Strong
- Bells in the Rain
- Penguin Geometry
- Aubade
- I can’t be talkin’ of love
- Walking in the Rain+
- Merry-go-round+
[Poem titled “in Just-”] (E. E. Cummings) in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious the little lame balloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it’s spring when the world is puddle-wonderful the queer old balloonman whistles far and wee and bettyandisbel come dancing from hop-scotch and ...
(Mark Van Doren) Water that falls and runs away, You are my friend, you talk to me. Where you come from, where you go, You never tell me, though I know. What are you saying then all day, Over and down and away and away? For I do listen, my sweet friend, And will until the world’s end; Nor do I beg you to declare More than sky does, more than air, W...
(E. E. Cummings) carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always...
[Poem titled “when faces called flowers float out of the ground”] (E. E. Cummings) when faces called flowers float out of the ground and breathing is wishing and wishing is having— but keeping is downward and doubting and never —it’s april(yes, april;my darling)it’s spring! yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly yes the little fish gambol a...
(Alfred Young Fisher) April rain in the wind-washed clover, Sing melodies to ease deep pain, deep death. Gently blow above her, April rain. If song nor wind nor wind-washed strain of song can comfort her, O, then cover her with silence and never come again. Silence and peace to those who love her, Peace in the eyes of the windy plain, Earth nor sky...
(Emily Dickinson) Good Morning – Midnight – I’m coming Home – Day – got tired of Me – How could I – of Him? Sunshine was a sweet place – liked to stay – But Morn – didn’t want me – now – So – Goodnight – Day! can look – can’t I – When the East is Red? The Hills – have a way – then – That puts the Heart – abroad – You – are not so fair – M...
(Emily Dickinson) Let down the Bars, Oh Death – The tired Flocks come in Whose bleating ceases to repeat Whose wandering is done – Thine is the stillest night Thine the securest Fold Too near Thou art for seeking Thee Too tender, to be told. Bee! I’m expecting you! (Emily Dickinson) Bee! I’m expecting you! Was saying Yesterday To Somebody y...
(Elinor Wylie) clear and musical, Sing again! Sing again! Hear the rain fall Through the long night. Bring me your song again, dear delight! dear and comforting, Mine again! Mine again! Hear the rain sing And the dark rejoice! Shine like a spark again, clearest voice!
(Elinor Wylie) Withouten you No rose can grow; No leaf be green If never seen Your sweetest face; No bird have grace Or power to sing; Or anything Be kind, or fair, And you nowhere.
(Richard Nickson) We were lone wanderers Passing by wide wood under A wider sky. Over us twilight Loomed as still As the tall cedar On the dark hill. We saw no other Thing at all Than deepening shadows At nightfall. We heard no other Sound than this: Two soft murmurs, One light kiss. No more we wandered Then that night, Who found a...
[Poem titled “Song”] (Richard Le Gallienne) She’s somewhere in the sunlight strong, Her tears are in the falling rain, She calls me in the wind’s soft song, And with the flowers she comes again. Yon bird is but her messenger, The moon is but her silver car; Yea! sun and moon are sent by her, And every wistful waiting star.
(Elinor Wylie) Sleep falls, with limpid drops of rain, Upon the steep cliffs of the town. Sleep falls; men are at peace again While the small drops fall softly down. The bright drops ring like bells of glass Thinned by the wind, and lightly blown; Sleep cannot fall on peaceful grass So softly as it falls on stone. Peace falls unheeded on the dead A...
(Donald Wheelock) For weeks and weeks I traveled south as far as I could go until I met a penguin pair standing in the snow. “I’m heading south,” I said to one. “You’re there,” he said to me, “you’re at the bottom of the earth, as south as you can be.” “Then kindly point me to the east and I’ll go there instead.” “There’s no such thing as east from...
(Richard Nickson) Wake! for the world of evening And all its dreams have fled: By murmurous morn your slumber Softly is visited. So blue is the sky, beloved, So bright is the break of dawn, A thrush at your open window Shouts and is gone. The sun streaks through the valley, The winds blow where they will, And clouds like huge white oxen Are croppi...
(Esther Matthews) can’t be talkin’ of love, dear, can’t be talkin’ of love. If there be one thing I can’t talk of, That one thing do be love. But, that’s not sayin’ that I’m not lovin’, Still water, you know, runs deep, and I do be lovin’ so deep, dear, I be lovin’ you in my sleep. But, I can’t be talkin’ of love, dear, I can’t be talkin’ of love. ...
(Mark Van Doren) Walking in the rain By myself all alone, Without anybody here To notice where I go, Without any worry Over when to start home, Walking in the rain With the cool coming at me Like an old friend, softly, Like—maybe—a lover Whispering to me, “Hush, Be still, breathe deep,” Walking in the rain By myself all alone Is having all the warm...
(Mark Van Doren) Horses in front of me, Horses behind, But mine is the best one, He never looks down. He rises and falls As if there were waves, But he never goes under, Oh, music, oh, mine. He is steady and strong, And he knows I am here, He says he is glad That I picked him to ride. But he hasn’t a name. I told him my own, And he only went faster...
The Songs of John Duke. High Voice. Series: Vocal Collection. Publisher: G. Schirmer, Inc. Composer: John Duke. Price: 24.99 (US) G. Schirmer was the first publisher to accept the work of this prolific and beloved composer of art songs.
A Collection of Unpublished Songs by John Duke . Karen K. Bishop, MM, DMA . Hawaii University International Conference 2014 . This research highlights a collection of unpublished art songs by the late American composer John Duke. A recording of these overlooked and forgotten songs has been approved for world-wide distribution.
While Duke is primarily known for his large output of art songs, his intellectual achievements as reflected in his writings merit recognition. This study places his compositional works in the contents of his written words: he wrote about his commitment to beauty and truth in music; he composed with the strength of character to adhere to that ...
His prodigious output of art songs continued, including such well-known pieces as "I've Dreamed of Sunsets" and "Lullabye". Pursuing compositional studies, Duke took a year's sabbatical in 1929 to work with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Artur Schnabel in Berlin.
Central Park at Dusk, by John Duke (1899-1984) John Duke was an American pianist, music educator and a prolific composer of art-songs. During a long career he wrote over two hundred and fifty songs, most of them to verse by his compatriots, such well-known poets as Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Sara Teasdale and e.e. cummings.
