Program Note:

Seraphim, which consisted of Gilda Lyons (soprano), Elaine Valby (mezzo-soprano), and Robert La Rue (cello) served as the incubator for a surprising number of original compositions and arrangements during its short existence. The Three Songs for Two Voices and Cello were assembled and arranged by Hagen for premiere on one of Gilda Lyons’ Phoenix Concerts in New York City during spring 2008.

The first, Suite of Appearances, was written originally for voice and piano at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy and completed November 1st, 1993. It was dedicated to Mark Strand, the poet, who gave Hagen the manuscript to read, and for whom Hagen played and sang the setting the evening that it was finished. It was originally published in the song cycle Letting Go.

The second song, Ample Make This Bed, was written originally for voice and piano on March 13th, 1989 in the course of an hour on a baby grand that had just been manhandled up five stories into the east village garret on Saint Mark’s Place in which Hagen lived at the time. Dedicated to La Rue, it was originally published as part of the song cycle Love in a Life.

The final song, Holy Thursday, was finished in its original version for voice and piano on November 26th, 1989 in Cassis, France during Hagen’s residence at the Camargo Foundation/ Originally published as the final song of the cycle Muldoon Songs, it remains the composer’s most-performed art song.