John Burge

Commissioner: The St. Louis Symphony's Children's Choirs (In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry McCoy and Mr. Paul E. Sparfeld)

Orchestra Instrumentation: 2222/423/2Percussion+Timp/Strings

Duration: 13 to 14 minutes (for all four songs)

Program Note: Simple Songs was commissioned by The St. Louis Symphony Children's choir and their Artistic Director, Ethelyn Sparfeld in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry McCoy and Mrl Paul e. Sparfeld.  This is the second work for choir and orchestra that John Burge has written for this fine organization.  All poems are in the set of four movements are children's poems written by Canadian poet, Dennis Lee, one of Canada's most celebrated poets, having published over 20 volumes of poetry.  Generations of Canadian children have enjoyed his books of verse which include such titles as, Wiggle to the Laundromat (1970), Alligator Pie (1974), Jelly Belly (1983), and The Ice Cream Store (1991).  The three poems used by John Burge in this set ("The Coat", "Silverly", and "Secrets") were published under the title, "Simple Songs", in the volume entitled Nightwatch: New and Selected Poems, 1968-1996 (McClelland and Stewart Inc., 1996).

The first three songs of this set are written for unison voices and piano or orchestra.  Although it is indicated that these should be sung by Trebles I, II and III respectively, in many choral situations all the sections of the choir learn all three songs collectively.  However, in the fourth song (titled Epilogue), all three songs are sung together with the accompaniment of the entire orchestra or a piano duet creating a beautifully thick but transparent texture of overlapping melodies and instrumental lines.  This requires that Treble I's sing Song No. 1, Treble II's to sing Song No. 2 and entering last, Treble III's sing Song No. 3. 

Interesting fact: One of the primary reasons that the composer designed Simple Songs in this fashion is that it in writing works for children's voices and choir, it is very easy for the orchestra to overpower the singers.  In this work, the orchestra is divided into three sections that each play only one of the first three songs and sit out for the other two, then finally combining in a tutti for the last movement.  By dividing the orchestra into thirds, problems of balance seem to vanish and equally, the orchestral parts are very easy to play and can be pulled together in just one rehearsal.

The choral scores are published separately as follows:

1. The Coat [UPC: 073999049732] Boosey and Hawkes Purchase Information
2. Silverly [UPC: 073999812817] Boosey and Hawkes Purchase Information
3. Secrets [UPC: 073999049756] Boosey and Hawkes Purchase Information
4. Epilogue [UPC: 073999564396] Boosey and Hawkes Purchase Information

For information with regards to renting the full score and a set of parts for this work, please contact: Boosey and Hawkes Rental Information