Bye for Now for soprano, cello, & piano
PDF score and parts for Bye for Now by Lisa Neher, for soprano (or medium-high voice), piano, and cello
Vocal Range: B3-G5. Additional transpositions available by request.
Length: 12 minutes
Preview the score (coming soon)
Program note:
Unlike traditional song cycles, which set poetry, the words for Bye for Now are drawn from saved voicemails from soprano and commissioner Dr. Jessica Saunders’s deceased mother and grandfather, who were instrumental in her development as a musician. She shares: “I wanted a way to honor their memory and I felt that their voicemails really expressed not only their love through every day interactions, but their personalities as well.” The cycle is one of the first (if not the first) major song cycles setting voicemail recordings.
Composer Dr. Lisa Neher used the rhythm and cadence of these recordings to inspire the music. The songs express familial love in day-to-day interactions, mediated through our modern smartphone technology. Distinctly midwestern, they feature references to the landscape, weather, and dialect of the American Heartland. Each song opens with an homage to various ringtones that audience members will recognize. Throughout the cycle, the cello represents Saunders’s grandfather Jerry Miller, whose resonant and melodious speech patterns were captured by the voicemails.
--Jessica Saunders & Lisa Neher
Bye for Now was commissioned and premiered by Dr. Jessica Saunders in 2022.