Programme Note
This choral setting of Garcia Lorca’s
Dawn was discovered among the
composer’s papers after his death in 2009. Also found were
three songs, and a
fragment of a fourth, for soprano and piano.
Remarkably, though only in his mid-20s when he wrote these works, Kirchner’s
aesthetic is already evident. Upon hearing, one can think of no other composer
who would have written them.
The three songs, the fragment, and Dawn are quite a gift – a glimpse into the
mind of a young composer who would grow to be one of the most accomplished
American musicians of his lifetime.
David Fetherolf
editor