Mother (from Longing for Home) – Carol Barnett

Composer: Carol Barnett Text by: Bea Exner Liu (1907-1997) Instrumentation mezzo-soprano, piano Duration: approx.  3'45" Date Written:  2018 Composer’s note: Longing for Home is a song cycle written to celebrate Source Song Festival’s fifth season. The texts all reference homecoming in various ways – the enduring wish to return to a place remembered with love and longing, as well as the uncertainty, the impossibility of doing so. “Mother” –The music mirrors the unsettled sadness of a daughter’s too-long-delayed visit home, now bereft of its center of gravity. Memories of beloved rituals, of a sympathetic ear, are brought to life once more by the nearness of familiar objects, and finally, the almost tangible sound of her mother’s voice: “You’re a big girl now. You can work it out.” Bea Exner Liu was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota, and graduated from Carleton College. She moved to China in 1935 to teach English,  and while there, married a Chinese classmate from Carleton and wi