LISTEN TO EXCERPTS

from Voices from Lost Realms
          Gerard Schwarz, conductor, and various artists; Albany Records (1992)
Learn more about this recording    The poems on this recording

 A Death in the Family: Butterfly Aria
   (Judith Cristin, soprano; Gregory Mercer, tenor; Steven Mayer, piano) (3:34)
 A Death in the Family: How Far We All Come Away from Ourselves
   (James McKeel, baritone) (4:07)
 Kyrie (Calliope Singers) (2:21)
 First Song (Galway Kinnell; Gregory Mercer, tenor) (3:39)
Passage:
    Limited (Sandburg; Mary Feinsinger, mezzo; Paul Lustig Dunkel, flute;
      Stacey Shames, harp) (1:31)
    What Lips My Lips Have Kissed (Millay) (3:39)
Three Madrigals (Calliope Singers):
    The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (Marlowe) (1:45)
    The Nymph's Reply to the Passionate Shepherd (Raleigh) (1:45)
    To Electra (Herrick) (0:52)
 Abandoned Bells (Steven Mayer, piano) (9:24)
 Fern Hill (Dylan Thomas; Jane Bryden, soprano; Paul Lustig Dunkel, flute;
   Stacey Shames, harp) (6:54)
 La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats; James McKeel, baritone; Steven Mayer, piano;
   Calliope Singers) (6:56)
 Festive Alleluia (from opera One Christmas Long Ago) (Florilegium) (3:55)
Enter Ariel:
    Hist Whist (e.e. cummings) (1:51)
    Flotsam (Langston Hughes) (1:56)
 Inner and Outer Strings (Music Today Ensemble, Gerard Schwarz, conductor) (8:38)

from William Mayer
          St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and various artists; New World-CRI (1997)
Learn more about this recording    The poems on this recording

 Country Fair (Robert Nagel brass trio) (2:07)
Dream’s End (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, McGlaughlin) (19:49)
    Extremes (1:52)
    Mostly Clarinet (1:53)
    Buzzings (1:56)
    A 20th Century Guest at an 18th Century Musicale; Interlude of Air (3:01)
    Appalachian Echoes (3:33)
    Burlesca (Funicula ridicula) ( 3:53)
    Mostly Piano (2:11)
    Dream’s End (1:37)
 Khartoum (Catherine Rowe, soprano) (2:11)
Brass Quintet (Iowa Brass Quintet) (14:54)
    Poco Presto (4:31)
    Adagio (Elegy) (3:15)
    Con moto e pesante (3:46)
    Poco presto (Dance) (3:26)
Miniatures (Catherine Rowe, soprano; Arthur Weisberg Ensemble) (6:12)
    Deeply Down (Elizabeth Aleinikoff) (1:03)
    Land of Dead Dreams (Alfred Noyes) (1:11)
    Fireworks - sounds and syllables (Mayer) (1:14)
    Prophetic Soul (Dorothy Parker) (1:08)
    Isn’t there some Mistake? (Mayer) (0:52)
    “... For No Man” (Mayer) (0:44)
Two News Items (Mayer; Catherine Rowe, soprano; Weisberg Ensemble) (3:55)
    “Hastily Formed Contemporary Music Ensemble Reveals Origins” (2:10)
    “Distraught Soprano Undergoes Unfortunate Transformation” (1:54)
Essay for Brass and Winds (New York Brass and Woodwind Ensemble, Emanuel Balaban) (10:22)
    Un poco Lento; Moderato; Allegro moderato (6:25)
    Allegro ma non troppo (4:04)
 Eve of St. Agnes (Keats; Peabody Chorus and Orchestra, Gregg Smith) (13:41)

from Mayer/Skrowaczewski
          Minnesota Orchestra (Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor); Phoenix (1991)

Two Pastels (12:13)
    One (4:55)
    Two (“Of Fireflies and a Summer Night”) (7:24)
 Andante for Strings (5:19)

from William Masselos plays Mayer and Rudhyar
“Recording of Special Merit” — Stereo Review
          William Masselos, piano
          Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Kenneth Schemerhorn, conductor)
          New World-CRI (2007)
Learn more about this recording

Octagon for Piano and Orchestra (28:15)
    Interrotto (6:58)
    Canzon (3:55)
    Scherzo (2:12)
    Toccata (2:15)
    Fantasia (3:50)
    Clangor (1:32)
    Points and Lights (2:39)
    Finale (4:52)
Piano Sonata (18:45)
    Andante (4:01)
    Moderato (8:42)
    Vivace e leggiero (6:08)

from Jam Session
          American Winds (Vol. 2); The Boehm Quintette; Premier Recordings (1994)

 Yankee Doodle Fanfare (2:17)

from Bobby Burns
          Robert DeCormier, conductor; Arabesque Recordings (1998)

 Ae Fond Kiss (4:33)

from Childhood Memories
          Şahan Arzruni, piano; New World Records (2002)

Subway in the Sunshine and Other Memories (5:43)
    Bird-Cage (0:41)
    Feeding Pigeons (0:38)
    Rude Bird (0:36)
    The Stream that Knew Sadness (2:23)
    Subway in the Sunlight (1:25)

from Dreamscape
          Heidi Grant Murphy, Auréole; Koch (1999)

 Zoom-bah (3:51)

from Summer Glints
          The Queen's Chamber Band; WillMayer Music (2006)

 Primeval Marsh (2:44)
 Bright and Brief (5:39)

from Traveling West
          Lisa Hansen, flute/piccolo
          The North/South Consonance Ensemble (Max Lifchitz, conductor)
          North South Recordings (2004)

Messages:
    Wind (2:44)
    Touch (4:14)
    Wood (3:36)
    Light Years (Ravel Remembered) (2:36)

Choral Music sampler:

Three Madrigals (Peter Schubert, conducting):
    The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (Marlowe) (1:47)
    The Nymph's Reply to the Passionate Shepherd (Raleigh) (1:36)
    To Electra (Herrick) (0:50)
 The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Hughes; Harold Rosenbaum, conducting) (4:49)
 Brief Candle (Feist; Nicholas Harsanyi, conducting) (6:22)
 Ae Fond Kiss (Burns; Robert DeCormier, conducting) (4:32)
 Kyrie (Peter Schubert, conducting) (2:20)
 Alleluia from One Chrismas Long Ago (JoAnn Rice, conducting) (3:54)
 La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats; Peter Schubert, conducting) (7:00)
 The Eve of St. Agnes (Keats; Gregg Smith, conducting) (13:43)

Musical Theater Songs:
          (from original 78rpm recordings)
          Louise Carlysle, soprano; Ron Selby, pianist, etc.

 Look at Me (Harold Littledale) (1:56)
 What Did I Do? (Harold Littledale) (2:54)
 I Need Your Magic (Emily Jay) (3:13)
 Let’s Have a Party (Emily Jay) (2:05)
 Here in New York (Harold Littledale) (1:53)
 How About It? (Elaine Sherwood) (2:02)
 It’s a Perfect Day (Emily Jay) (2:23)
 Deep in the Hidden Heart (Elizabeth Aleinikoff) (2:00)
 No One Knows (Susan Otto) (1:46)

from Capt. Burl Ives’ Ark
          Burl Ives

 Bongo and His Baboon Drum (2:45)

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The Works of William Mayer

Recordings

“[Mayer’s] settings of poems by Hart Crane, e.e. cummings, Sara Teasdale and Langston Hughes were sensitive, actually augmenting the power of the texts, something not always true today.”�
   — Byron Belt, The Star-Ledger

“... an attractively and brilliantly scored nineteen-minute work... Dream’s End once again affirms Mayer to be an inventive composer whose imaginative touches are found everywhere in his works.”�
   — Jerome Rosen, Notes

“Messages cheerfully explores the ideas suggested by its movement titles. In it Mayer’s delightful way of looking at musical things found its perfect medium.”�
   — Music Journal