VF15 – Late Afternoon: Six Songs for Mezzo Soprano

This is a heartfelt cycle of songs by Ricky Ian Gordon set the poetry of three important American poets, Jane Kenyon, Jean Valentine and Marie Howe. After a major personal loss, Gordon turned to the poetry of these women who speak of loss and death in a way that he found particularly consoling. The songs are beautifully written for a medium voice with Gordon s usual care. A dissonant and colorful keyboard part is a great enhancement to the generally reflective tone of the music. Gordon s moving setting of the late Jane Kenyon s heartbreaking Let Evening Come is destined to be a recital classic. Late Afternoon was commissioned by Tisch Center of the Arts at the 92nd Street Y and was made possible with funds provided by the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust.