Andrew Mark Sauerwein
COMPOSING, TEACHING, WONDERING, EXPLORING...
ABC ETA
Soprano and Piano.
2022
My second setting of Grace Andrews' poetry. This one is a zany acrostic poem entitled "ABC" that involves a visitor from the future, a banana, and world domination. The action is presented in a recitative. The harmony features a different chord for each of the 26 lines of text, including harmony based on all 24 major and minor triads.
Lyrics:
All he said was, “I’m
Back from the future and I
Can prove it.”
Did he think I needed
Evidence?
Frankly, being an avid
Geek when your talking Doctor Who or Jules Verne,
How could I not believe
In time travel?
Just as I was offering him a
Kumquat,
Lithely he slipped through the door and behind
Me,
Not taking the kumquat
Opening the kitchen door
Peeling a banana
Quietly chomping precisely to the middle of it.
“Really,” he says,
“Science fiction is more like fact
Than you would like to believe.
Under the fantasy of
Verne and
Who,
X-men and
Yoda, lie
Zealous, earnest plots for world domination.”