The Ice, from The Secret Ministry of Frost

The Ice, from The Secret Ministry of Frost (2011)

The Secret Ministry of Frost (2011), for soprano and chamber ensemble, is a story told in six parts. In four of the work's movements, the story is told through texts written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Dana Gioia, and Robinson Jeffers. These texts describe a set of scenes that form a story narrated by the singer as well as by the instruments in the chamber ensemble. Ultimately, The Secret Ministry of Frost is a piece that details an insomniac's night of unrest, fitful dreams, and, eventually, rest and peace.
'The Ice', for voice and piano, is an early part of the cycle; a dream-within-a-dream.

Katie Martin, soprano
Kathryn Norring, piano

from Mottetti: Poems of Love by Eugenio Montale, translated by Dana Gioia

XII. Ti libero la fronte dai ghiaccioli
che raccogliesti traversando l’alte
nebulose; hai le penne lacerate
dai cicloni, ti desti a soprassalti.

Mezzodi: allunga nel riquadro il nespolo
l’ombra nera, s’ostina in cielo un sole
freddoloso; e l’atre ombre che scantonano
nel vicolo non sanno che sei qui.

I run my hand across your forehead
to wipe away the ice
that formed there as you crossed
the highest clouds. Your wings
have been torn by cyclones.
You wake with a sudden start.

Noon: and the black shadow of the medlar
stretches itself across the square,
a cold sun lingers overhead,
and the other shadows
turning in the alley
don’t know that you are here.

Performance History -

The Ice, from The Secret Ministry of Frost
Katie Martin, soprano, and Kathryn Norring, piano; Jordan Nelson's D.M.A. Composition Recital
September 29, 2012; Newman Recital Hall, USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles, CA

premiere:
Katie Martin, soprano, T.J. Tesh, trumpet, John Morgan, trombone, Sarah Davis, harp, Jessica Chou, piano, Pieter
Viljoen, violin, Grace Park, viola, David Perryman, double bass, and Nancy Holland, conducting
December 9, 2011; USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles, CA