Why I Wake Early

Commission year: 
2007
Grant recipient: 
Chatham Chorale

West Dennis, MA

Settings of eight poems by Cape Cod resident Mary Oliver. Co-commissioned by the New Amsterdam Singers of New York City.

From the Cape Cod Times review: In the tradition of the New England Transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau, Oliver’s poems are inspired by nature and our relationship to it. Her vision is essentially upbeat without denying the harsh realities of the natural world. She has written: “Every poem is music — a determined, persuasive, reliable, enthusiastic and crafted music.”

CANE role: 
Composer: 
Premiere date: 
Saturday, November 10, 2007