Of A Certain Age

by Cipullo, Tom

• ISBN13: 9780195394191
• ISBN10: 0195394194
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

for soprano and piano
Winner of the NATS Art Song Competition in 2008, this 15-minute suite of six pieces called Of a Certain Age was commissioned by soprano Hope Hudson and written in October 2007. The soprano protagonist looks back, either in her imagination or in real terms, on a life richly lived. The texts, five by Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Lisel Mueller and one by the gifted Judith Baumel, range from the bittersweet and nostalgic through the humorous and even to the tragic. Taken together, the poems offer a mature perspective on love, loss, aging, and what it means to be a 21st-century woman.

Author Biography

Tom Cipullo is rapidly becoming known for his songs, although he is turning out works of distinction in a number of forms, wrote critic Elliot S. Hurwitt in a recent issue of Fanfare magazine. Indeed, Cipullo is often associated with vocal music, having written over 150 songs and a number of vocal chamber works, but in recent years he has composed a number of instrumental works as well, including Water Lilies (commissioned by pianist Jeanne Golan), the fiery orchestral overture Sparkler (recorded by the Warsaw Philharmonic), and Fanamberfare, for brass and percussion. Cipullo has received commissions from the Mirror Visions Ensemble, I Cantori di New York, Joy In Singing, the New York Festival of Song, and tenor Paul Sperry, among others. Cipullo has also received awards and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, ASCAP, and Meet the Composer. The New York Times has called his music haunting, and the Boston Globe remarked that his work literally sparkled with wit. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called him an expert in writing for the voice.