Kurt Erickson

Ich und Du

for Soprano and Piano

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Created as part of my composer residency with San Francisco’s Lieder Alive!, Ich und Du simply would not have been possible without the inspiration, assistance, and sheer joy of working with soprano Heidi Moss. These works are personal to a unique degree, created as they were as a kind of courtship gift to this wonderful woman and artist. In “Dein blaues Auge hält so still” the repeated ‘E’ in the piano holds us still as the fast moving treble motives depict the blazing eyes of the beloved. “Ich und Du” uses two different musical ideas to depict the separateness of the two lovers, only to see them merge and come together (musically and spiritually) at the end of the piece. “Mondnacht” begins with a dialogue of soft chords that bounce between separate registers, personifying the poetic imagery of the Earth and Sky sending amorous intentions to each other.