chamber songs for soprano, flute, clarinet, and piano
11’00”
composed 2008
commissioned and premiered by Conundrum (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Composer’s Note
Hailstones was commissioned by Conundrum. Each of these four individual “stones” frames a different quotation (or quotations, in the case of the third movement) by 20th-century American presidents - some famous, others more infamous. These settings are crafted neither to embrace nor ridicule the presidents in question, but rather to celebrate the awesome power and inevitable buffoonery that is associated with the modern office of the president.