Livid Loneliness of Fear for Mezzo-Soprano and Chamber Ensemble by Ingrid Stölzel | Composer

Performance: American Wild Ensemble
Ann Marie Wilcox-Daehn, mezzo-soprano
Emlyn Johnson, flute
Bill Kalinkos, clarinet
Sarah Peters, violin
Daniel Ketter, cello
Megan Arns, percussion

PROGRAM NOTES: “Livid Loneliness of Fear” for Mezzo Soprano, Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Percussion was commissioned by the Music in the American Wild Ensemble as part of their series entitled “The American Aviatrix.” Being a long-time resident of Kansas myself, I chose to celebrate the famous American aviation pioneer and Kansas native, Amelia Earhart. When I first learned that in addition to being a record-breaking aviator and outspoken advocate for women’s rights, she was also an avid lover and writer of poetry, it was clear that my composition celebrating her pioneering legacy would have to include her words. Her poem “Courage,” which was published the year of her first transatlantic flight in 1928, is extraordinary and I was immediately drawn to her vivid imagery and powerful poetic voice. My setting is guided by this imagery as well as the strong formal aspects of the poem. In addition, during my research into Amelia Earhart I found it endearing that her family and friends always called her by her initials, so I thought it fitting to prominently incorporate these pitches in structurally important moments.

COURAGE - Amelia Earhart (1897-1937)

Courage is the price that Life exacts
for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not
Knows no release
from little things:

Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
Nor mountain heights where bitter joy
can hear
The sound of wings.

How can life grant us boon of living,
compensate
For gray dull ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare

The soul's dominion? Each time we
make a choice, we pay
With courage to behold the resistless day,
And count it fair.

First published in Survey Graphic magazine on July 1, 1928 in an article by Marion Perkins entitled “Who is Amelia Earhart?”