RAIN, RAIN

Composer's Note:

Rain, Rain is a set of songs written just after I moved to Phoenix in the fall of 1973 for my sister, soprano Eleanor Stallcop-Horrox. The first and last song were taken from a musical I wrote in 1972, Jessica, which abruptly came to an end when the financial backer sold everything he owned and joined a religious commune in the California desert.  Those were the days.  Many of the lyrics of the show were written by a good friend of mine, Scott Wilson, who shortly afterward won the position of Second French Horn (and later, librarian and personnel manager) with the Seattle Symphony.

The other poems in the set were written by Leslie Green (Stallcop), who became my wife five years later.  The last song was without words in the musical, which I retained here except for reciting Leslie’s poem “Limits” during the coda.  “The Visitor” is a poem about Leslie’s mother.  “Mimi” is a poem about our new kitten (meow chiamino Mimi) who lived another 18 years.  “Thirty-two and In His Prime” is about nobody in particular, as far as I know, but he was over thirty, so we didn’t trust him.  “Limits” is pretty self explanatory, and seemed like a good choice for duty at the end of a wordless song.  Its mood also fits the song’s coda beautifully.

My sister first performed these songs at her senior recital at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.