I. Sextet: 1. To the Poem (Frank O'Hara); II. Three Solos: 2. The Pennycandystore Beyond the El (Lawrence Ferlinghetti), 3. A Julia de Burgos (Julia de Burgos), 4. To What You Said (Walt Whitman); III. Three Ensembles: 5. Duet: I, Too, Sing America (Langston Hughes)/Okay "Negroes" (June Jordan), 6. Trio: To My Dear and Loving Husband (Anne Bradstreet), 7. Duet: Storyette H.M. (Gertrude Stein); IV. Sextet: 8. 'if you can't eat you got to' (e.e. cummings); V. Three Solos: 9. Music I Heard With You (Conrad Aiken), 10. Zizi's Lament (Gregory Corso), 11. Sonnet: 'What lips my lips have kissed' (Edna St. Vincent Millay); VI. Sextet: 12. Israfel (Edgar Allan Poe)
The standard, accepted order of instrumentation for large ensembles: fl.ob.cl.bsn - hn.tpt.trbn.tba - perc - other - vlnI.vlnII.vla.vlc.db - tape, or electronics. Saxophones appear between clarinet and bassoon.
All other scorings (less than 8 instruments) are listed in full.
When an instrument is listed in parentheses, then this instrument is doubled. "guitar (=electric guitar)" means that the guitarist plays an acoustic, as well as an electric guitar. In an orchestral setting, "1(I=picc).2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).1" would resolve to: 1 flute (also playing piccolo), 2 oboes (second oboe also playing cor anglais), 2 clarinets (second clarinet also playing bass clarinet), 1 bassoon. If there is an extra instrument, which is not doubled, then this is expressly written out, e.g. "1(I=picc).2.corA.2.bcl.1.dbn", which unravels to: 1 flute (also playing piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 1 bassoon, 1 double bassoon.
Solo instruments in a concerto or chamber setting are written out in front of the ensemble instruments: guitar - 1.1.1.1 - 1.0.0.0 - perc - strgs.
Genre
Orchestra
Text/Libretto
Frank O'Hara, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Julia de Burgos, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, June Jordan, Anne Bradstreet, Gertrude Stein, e.e. cummings, Conrad Aiken, Gregory Corso, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edgar Allan Poe
Premiere
Washington DC, Kennedy Center, October 1977: Clamma Dale, soprano / Rosalind Elias, mezzo-soprano / Nancy Williams, mezzo-soprano / Neil Rosenshein, tenor / John Reardon, baritone / Donald Gramm, bass-baritone / National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (cond.)