Lyrics by John Hall
Music by Jake Heggie
Performed & Commissioned by Brian Asawa
Countertenor’s Conundrum
This note from my throat (ah!)
conjurs imagined memories of altered males
who stood upon a stage and with their scales
and trills sang stories of heroic deeds
which seemed to satify the needs
of listeners long dead and gone
now we are here to carry on
This note from my throat (ah!)
causes creative fantasies of times gone by
when pampered neuters sang and they would try
to move their audience through grace and art
still mindful of that missing part
that changed their lives and made their song
so precious rare and yet so wrong
The songs they sang I'll sing again
A modern echo of those men
I'll train my voice stylistically correct
and hope these threads of tissue in my throat connect
with something of those spirit voices
trilling soft and sweet
now here am I tensed present and complete
This note from my throat (ah!)
you understand the history
that sets my voice apart
now let me share the mystery
this note (ah!) is from my heart
Copyright ©1995 John Hall & Jake Heggie.