Text by E. E. Cummings. Used with permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.
PROGRAM NOTE:
somewhere i have never travelled was composed during my first year at the Eastman School of Music. I had recently become acquainted with Benjamin Brittenʼs 1943 Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings and wanted to try my hand at something similar. Given this inspiration, I donʼt know what prompted me to compose first for baritone, horn, and piano, but that was indeed the original version of somewhere i have never travelled. This arrangement for strings followed rather quickly and is the preferred version.
I still had much to learn about writing for voice when I wrote somewhere i have never travelled, but I am pleased by the interplay of horn and voice throughout, and the ending is quite effective.