dominickdiorio
conductor composer
two letter D inside a blue circle

When I Was Eight

Choral Music

chorus with piano

work detail

instrumentation: SATB and piano

completion date: november 2017

duration: 5 minutes

texts: "When I Was Eight" by Robert Bode

events

4

WE ARE WAVES

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia & Commonwealth Youthchoirs

Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA

2:00 pm

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia (Dominick DiOrio, artistic director) & Commonwealth Youthchoirs (Frank van Atta & Elizabeth Parker, co-artistic directors) join forces for a joint collaborative concert experience, We Are Waves. Featuring guest composer-conductors Rollo Dilworth & Alysia Lee, plus a brand-new commissioned work with original music by Carlos Cordero and an original poem by Julie Flanders. Two performances: 2pm & 5pm. More information at mcchorus.org.

31

DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM

NOTUS

IU Jacobs School of Music, Auer Concert Hall, Bloomington, IN

8:00 pm

NOTUS and director Dominick DiOrio present the world premiere of IU faculty composer Chi Wang's Dynamic Equilibrium for chorus and live electronics. The program also features the world premiere of Braeden Ayres Factum est silentium, the world premiere performances of the NOTUS student composition contest prize-winning works, and consortium premieres by Christine Donkin and Christopher H. Harris, in addition to works by Gabriela Lena-Frank, Christopher Theofanidis, and Ysaÿe Barnwell.

audio

When I Was Eight

Choral Arts NW

Robert Bode, conductor

videos

When I Was Eight

Choral Chameleon Chorus
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Hee Sung Kim, piano
Robyn Prezioso, visual artist
Text by Robert Bode

performances

may 05, 2018

Choral Arts Northwest
Robert Bode, conductor
Plymouth Church - Seattle, WA

may 06, 2018

Choral Arts Northwest
Robert Bode, conductor
Trinity Episcopal Church - Seattle, WA

november 22, 2019

Choral Chameleon
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Irondale Center - Brooklyn, NY

november 23, 2019

Choral Chameleon
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Irondale Center - Brooklyn, NY

march 04, 2023

"We Are Waves" * Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia * Dominick DiOrio, director * Temple Performing Arts Center - Philadelphia, PA

march 31, 2023

"Dynamic Equilibrium" * NOTUS, Dominick DiOrio, director * Auer Concert Hall - Indiana University Jacobs School of Music - Bloomington, IN

scores

commission and dedication

Commissioned by and dedicated to the Conservatory Singers of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Robert Bode, conductor

program note

It was in Minneapolis for the National ACDA conference in March of 2017 when Robert Bode heard my work, “All Is,” for chorus, mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano. After the reading session, he came up to me immediately, saying: “I want you to set my poetry.” I was flattered and humbled by his response to my music, and I said: “Of course! Send me some poems!” Thus began our collaboration…!

Robert sent me a collection of poems, and this particular text—written on vacation in Marrowstone Island—captured me almost instantaneously with its associations of memory, nostalgia, wonder, and child-like discovery. It was practically brimming over with music, waiting to be given a sonic frame. “When I was eight” wears its heart on its sleeve, with fanciful pianistic flourishes requiring “Craft so dearly bought,” choral sonorities which will benefit from “the pride of small-tuned things,” and quixotic quotations “of Beethoven and Barber and Bach and Brahms.”

I dedicate this work fondly to Robert, whose poetry of ebullient energy and ecstatic enthusiasm I can only hope is faithfully mirrored in my music.

-- Dominick DiOrio, November 2017

text

When I Was Eight
by Robert Bode (Marrowstone Island, August 2015)
 

Each night I’d mount the stage alone
(a small red rug with fraying trim)
And stand before the Magnavox,
     When I was eight.

I’d move my arms and lunge and leap
            with cheeks aflame,
And ride volcanic waves
Of Beethoven and Barber and Bach and Brahms,
     When I was eight.

I’d join the eagles in their flight
And hear the jackals call;
The stars would shudder in their sockets,
And stallions would flash in the sun!

Today I feel what knowledge brings,
            and Craft, so dearly bought:
The pride of small-tuned things
And the pleasures of the fine.

But oh, I long to feel again
The wonder and the flight:
As when I’d close my eyes,
And lift my arms,
And lead the holy angels
In their Hallelujah song,
                When I was eight.

information

events

4

WE ARE WAVES

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia & Commonwealth Youthchoirs

Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA

2:00 pm

Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia (Dominick DiOrio, artistic director) & Commonwealth Youthchoirs (Frank van Atta & Elizabeth Parker, co-artistic directors) join forces for a joint collaborative concert experience, We Are Waves. Featuring guest composer-conductors Rollo Dilworth & Alysia Lee, plus a brand-new commissioned work with original music by Carlos Cordero and an original poem by Julie Flanders. Two performances: 2pm & 5pm. More information at mcchorus.org.

31

DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM

NOTUS

IU Jacobs School of Music, Auer Concert Hall, Bloomington, IN

8:00 pm

NOTUS and director Dominick DiOrio present the world premiere of IU faculty composer Chi Wang's Dynamic Equilibrium for chorus and live electronics. The program also features the world premiere of Braeden Ayres Factum est silentium, the world premiere performances of the NOTUS student composition contest prize-winning works, and consortium premieres by Christine Donkin and Christopher H. Harris, in addition to works by Gabriela Lena-Frank, Christopher Theofanidis, and Ysaÿe Barnwell.


audio

When I Was Eight

Choral Arts NW

Robert Bode, conductor


videos

When I Was Eight

Choral Chameleon Chorus
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Hee Sung Kim, piano
Robyn Prezioso, visual artist
Text by Robert Bode


performances

may 05, 2018

Choral Arts Northwest
Robert Bode, conductor
Plymouth Church - Seattle, WA

may 06, 2018

Choral Arts Northwest
Robert Bode, conductor
Trinity Episcopal Church - Seattle, WA

november 22, 2019

Choral Chameleon
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Irondale Center - Brooklyn, NY

november 23, 2019

Choral Chameleon
Vince Peterson, artistic director
Irondale Center - Brooklyn, NY

march 04, 2023

"We Are Waves" * Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia * Dominick DiOrio, director * Temple Performing Arts Center - Philadelphia, PA

march 31, 2023

"Dynamic Equilibrium" * NOTUS, Dominick DiOrio, director * Auer Concert Hall - Indiana University Jacobs School of Music - Bloomington, IN


scores


commission and dedication

Commissioned by and dedicated to the Conservatory Singers of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Robert Bode, conductor


program note

It was in Minneapolis for the National ACDA conference in March of 2017 when Robert Bode heard my work, “All Is,” for chorus, mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano. After the reading session, he came up to me immediately, saying: “I want you to set my poetry.” I was flattered and humbled by his response to my music, and I said: “Of course! Send me some poems!” Thus began our collaboration…!

Robert sent me a collection of poems, and this particular text—written on vacation in Marrowstone Island—captured me almost instantaneously with its associations of memory, nostalgia, wonder, and child-like discovery. It was practically brimming over with music, waiting to be given a sonic frame. “When I was eight” wears its heart on its sleeve, with fanciful pianistic flourishes requiring “Craft so dearly bought,” choral sonorities which will benefit from “the pride of small-tuned things,” and quixotic quotations “of Beethoven and Barber and Bach and Brahms.”

I dedicate this work fondly to Robert, whose poetry of ebullient energy and ecstatic enthusiasm I can only hope is faithfully mirrored in my music.

-- Dominick DiOrio, November 2017


text

When I Was Eight
by Robert Bode (Marrowstone Island, August 2015)
 

Each night I’d mount the stage alone
(a small red rug with fraying trim)
And stand before the Magnavox,
     When I was eight.

I’d move my arms and lunge and leap
            with cheeks aflame,
And ride volcanic waves
Of Beethoven and Barber and Bach and Brahms,
     When I was eight.

I’d join the eagles in their flight
And hear the jackals call;
The stars would shudder in their sockets,
And stallions would flash in the sun!

Today I feel what knowledge brings,
            and Craft, so dearly bought:
The pride of small-tuned things
And the pleasures of the fine.

But oh, I long to feel again
The wonder and the flight:
As when I’d close my eyes,
And lift my arms,
And lead the holy angels
In their Hallelujah song,
                When I was eight.


dominick smiling and looking out