Care-Charming Sleep – Carol Barnett

Composer: Carol Barnett Text by: John‬‭ Fletcher‬‭ (1579-1625)‬ Instrumentation: SSAATTBB a cappella Duration: Approx. 3'30'' Date Written:  1994 Composer’s note: The settings of these Elizabethan-era poems are all sound pictures that use an extended tonality to illustrate a few of the works of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. The harmonies are triadic, but the triads have added notes and travel far afield through each phrase before ending on euphonious cadences. Through the use of alternating duplets and triplets, “There is a Lady” suggests the unsettled, can’t-focus feeling of being rapturous love.   “My Love in Her Attire” is a rowdy back-of-the-bus-on-the-way-home-from-the-concert song that nonetheless needs finesse in getting the abrupt dynamic changes just right.   The unhurried pace of “Care-Charming Sleep” evokes the serene otherworldliness of deep slumber.  “Orpheus” is a siciliano in gentle but steady tempo. Voices singing “Orpheus…” are calling to him from the other side of th