Oh Captain! My Captain!
Duration:4'
Instrumentation: Baritone, Pno
Premiere (in concert):Senior Composition Recital
Tom Dasso (baritone), Carolyn Quick (pno) Beall Hall, Eugene, OR March, 2016 Year of Composition: 2013 |
Oh Captain! My Captain! was my very first art song! Written originally for conductor and baritone Zeke Fetrow, this place has had many performances by many different singers - each performer bringing a new and rich interpretation to the table.
Text: O Captain! My Captain! [abridged] O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! [O] the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells; Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills, [For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,] For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead. [My Captain does not answer,] his lips are pale and still, My father [does not feel my arm, he] has no pulse nor will, The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. - Walt Whitman (1891) |