The Open Road (song cycle)

Instrumentation: voice, harp, organ, saxophone/ flugelhorn

Commissioned by Korzo Theater

Original performance by The Open Road Ensemble (with mezzo, flugelhorn, harp, organ)
2nd edition performed by Herz Ensemble (with counter tenor, saxophone, harp and organ)

Based on the epic transcendentalist poem Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman, this song cycle speak of travel both physically and metaphorically as endless journeys from birth to death provide the backdrop for the inner metamorphosis of the soul, encouraging the listener to put away anxiety and follow the inner journey, taking to the open road as a symbol for life’s journey, a process of discovering “divine things well envelop’d…more beautiful than words can tell”.

Song cycle:

Lyre 3:46
We must not stop here 4:28
Whoever you are come travel with me 2:23
Journeyers 2:00
Whoever you are come forth 4:58
We will sail 3:41
Spin Bird 3:18
Mystic trumpeter 4:00
The road is before us 2:52
I will be honest with you 5:14
They too are on the road 3:23
The open road 3:07
To that which is endless 6:38

LISTEN