Kurt Erickson

Kurt Erickson is currently serving a multi-year composer residency with the San Francisco performing arts organization Lieder Alive!, writing works for their guest artist recitals on their subscription concert season. His music has been commissioned and performed by a wide range of ensembles, including opera companies, orchestras, cathedrals and national shrines, ballet companies, choruses, chamber ensembles, and colleges and universities.

Choral Music by Kurt Erickson

	Title	Voicing	Duration	Language
	May the Lord Bless You and Keep You for SATB choir a cappella KEM 1001	SATB	2'15"	English	Info/Listen/Buy »
Short choral blessing (text from the Old Testament) written as part of 2001-2003 Composer Residency at San Francisco’s National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. Premiered by resident ensemble, Schola Cantorum SF
	O Magnum Mysterium for treble choir a cappella KEM-1013	SSAA	4'30"	Latin	Info/Listen/Buy »
Commissioned premiere performance at Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) by the San Francisco Girls Chorus. The explosive Lang work was appropriately contrasted by the excellent, gentle and more subtle O Magnum Mysterium by Kurt Erickson. This world premiere was commissioned by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Here the “mystery” part of the thematic trinity […]
	We Three Kings for a cappella treble chorus (SSAA) KEM-1044		3'30"		Info/Listen/Buy »
Nearly every December, Christmas sneaks up on me far too quickly, busy as I am with end-of-semester grading and final exams. I’m an admittedly nostalgic guy who unabashedly loves Christmas music, and every year I think to myself ‘I really should have written a Christmas piece this year’. Christmas 2015 followed a similar pattern, except […]

Music for Solo Voice by Kurt Erickson

	Title	Voice	Duration
	The Over Journey (Hinüber Wall’ Ich) for Mezzo Soprano, Viola, and Piano	Mezzo-Soprano ⋅ Viola	6'45"	Info/Listen/Buy »
The Over Journey gives voice to the über-Romantic yearnings of 19th Century German poet Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg). The poet’s fascination with death, art, and the loss of his young fiancee permeates this piece, as the poet dreams of one day reuniting with his lost love.
	Stud Pepper for Baritone and Piano	Baritone	2'30"	Info/Listen/Buy »
Stud Pepper (from my song set Food Porn) is my tongue-in-cheek valentine to the excesses of foodie culture, and the ongoing social media tendencies to document each and every fabulously consumed meal. Stud Pepper uses real and imagined food advertisements, playing with the idea of how the language of food has become over sensualized and over […]
	Song of Solace; Song of Regret for soprano and piano	Soprano	6'30"	Info/Listen/Buy »
I have a confession to make; my pieces come from a very personal, very private place. I know and admire many fellow composers who take a cooler, analytical stance towards their art and aesthetic, and I admire their craftsmanship and outward reserve. But that just doesn’t work for me (no judgement). From a technical standpoint, […]
	Mondnacht for Soprano (or mezzo soprano) and piano	Mezzo-Soprano ⋅ Soprano	3'	Info/Listen/Buy »
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. The second stanza accompaniment responds with slightly faster, flowing 16th notes that mimic the image of the breeze passing through the fields with the ears of grain […]
	Low Tide (Unaccompanied) For unaccompanied mezzo-soprano	Mezzo-Soprano	3'	Info/Listen/Buy »
This setting has special meaning for me, both as a father and as a personal friend of the poet. Anthony Jesse and I share many fond memories from our bohemian 20’s living in San Francisco. He studied guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I was a pianist taking a gap year before graduate […]
	Low Tide for mezzo-soprano and piano	Mezzo-Soprano	4'	Info/Listen/Buy »
This setting has special meaning for me, both as a father and as a personal friend of the poet. Anthony Jesse and I share many fond memories from our bohemian 20’s living in San Francisco. He studied guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I was a pianist taking a gap year before graduate […]
	Jagermeisterlieder: A Songset for Manly Men for bass voice and piano	Bass (voice)	13'	Info/Listen/Buy »
This set started life as an interesting concept – songs about men (with a 21st Century wink and a nod) married to a ridiculously silly title. The term Jägermeisterlieder is both sly and irreverent while also containing a certain accuracy, as ‘jagermeister’ is loosely translated as ‘master of the hunt’. The first song Jägerlied is […]
	Ich und Du for Soprano and Piano	Soprano	8'30	Info/Listen/Buy »
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 […]
	Four Andalusian Love Songs For Countertenor and Piano	Countertenor	12'	Info/Listen/Buy »

	Chicago Songs for soprano and orchestra	Orchestra ⋅ Soprano	2'	Info/Listen/Buy »
Chicago Songs is my attempt to musically recreate something of the spirit and people found in Carl Sandburg’s iconic poetry. Sandburg’s world is one filled with the grit of burgeoning industrialization, the earnest hope of immigrant settlers, and the heartache and beauty found in the everyday. His characters are larger than life, yet tragically human […]
	Chicago Songs for soprano and piano	Soprano	20'	Info/Listen/Buy »
Chicago Songs is my attempt to musically recreate something of the spirit and people found in Carl Sandburg’s iconic poetry. Sandburg’s world is one filled with the grit of burgeoning industrialization, the earnest hope of immigrant settlers, and the heartache and beauty found in the everyday. His characters are larger than life, yet tragically human — […]

Music for Solo Piano by Kurt Erickson

	Title	Duration
	Piano Piece #4 For Solo Piano	5'00"	Info/Listen/Buy »
Piano Piece #4 is the fourth movement of my piano cycle Set of Five, which takes its title from the wonderful Henry Cowell piece of the same name and serves as a gesture of homage for the New Albion CD recording that looped through my brain on a near-constant basis in my young twenties. An […]
	Prelude Piano Solo	1'30"	Info/Listen/Buy »
Prelude is the first movement from of my piano cycle Set of Five, which takes its title from the wonderful Henry Cowell piece of the same name and serves as a gesture of homage for the New Albion CD recording that looped through my brain on a near-constant basis in my young twenties. Prelude was […]

Music for other instruments by Kurt Erickson

	Title	Instrumentation	Duration
	The Over Journey (Hinüber Wall’ Ich) for Mezzo Soprano, Viola, and Piano	Mezzo-Soprano ⋅ Viola	6'45"	Info/Listen/Buy »
The Over Journey gives voice to the über-Romantic yearnings of 19th Century German poet Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg). The poet’s fascination with death, art, and the loss of his young fiancee permeates this piece, as the poet dreams of one day reuniting with his lost love.
	Hiding Out With Henry for Solo Guitar	Guitar	5'	Info/Listen/Buy »
Quirky solo guitar piece for my good friend Nicholas Schuller. Having spent my mid-twenties hanging around guitarists studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I became quickly enamored with this uniquely intimate and expressive instrument. The work was truly a labor of love, and recreates something of the time and memories I have from […]
	Chicago Songs for soprano and orchestra	Orchestra ⋅ Soprano	2'	Info/Listen/Buy »
Chicago Songs is my attempt to musically recreate something of the spirit and people found in Carl Sandburg’s iconic poetry. Sandburg’s world is one filled with the grit of burgeoning industrialization, the earnest hope of immigrant settlers, and the heartache and beauty found in the everyday. His characters are larger than life, yet tragically human […]