The text for this song cycle is from Kathleen Norris’ Dakota, subtitled “A Spiritual Geography.” Norris weaves spiritual ideas from various sources, including her own religious background, Catholic monasticism, feminine spirituality, and her personal experiences, using images and metaphor, to create meaning in ordinary events and places.

The four songs in my cycle are “The Words of Psalms,” “But What Is There To See?” “A Person is Forced Inward,” and The Stillness Under Stars.” In “A Person is Forced Inward” Norris compares the “flow of the land, with its odd twists and buttes” to the “flow of Gregorian chant.” Musical imagery is frequently used throughout her books. In “The Stillness Under Stars” she reflects on her grandmother’s alone-ness, while reflecting the stillness or quietness of the landscape. The song ends with the line, “This is the side of the moon that no one sees.”

In using Norris’ text for music, I’ve chosen to use her prose rather than her poetry, for its rhythmic freedom as well as its intimate story-telling quality. The starting point for my music is a tone series, but I’ve drawn from it both harmonies and melodic gestures that border on tonal to create a subtle sense of tone painting.