Ten Songs for Tenor and Piano

Ten Songs for Tenor and Piano is a collection that pairs primarily contemporary texts with harmonies rooted in the Classical and Romantic traditions. My intention was to offer listeners a varied emotional soundscape—at times by deliberately creating tension between melody and text through contrasting moods and styles. While the ten songs do not share a single overarching theme, performers and listeners alike may notice threads of environmental interest, hyper-consumerism, and animal advocacy in Chaff, Pearls to Swine, Ouroboros, and King; a portrait of isolation in Hikikomori; reflections on love, life, and death in Bowline, An Ocean, and Night; and even a whimsical, bel canto-inspired setting of Italian text in The King Who Rode to Town. I hope both performers and listeners will find moments within these songs that resonate with them.

—‑Benjamin Savage

1. Ouroboros (C3–G4)
2. Chaff (C#3–A4)
3. Hikikomori (E3–G#4)
4. Pearls to Swine (G#3–A4)
5. Bowline (C3–A4)
6. Erasure (B2–A4)
7. King (B2–G#4)
8. The King Who Rode to Town (Bb2–Bb4)
9. An Ocean (C3–A4)
10. Night (C3– Bb4)