Songs for a Poet was commissioned by James Boatman and Stephen Pollock for a recital at the University of Michigan in 1987. Although the titles are highly suggestive of programmatic ideas, this work actually had no programmatic intent. The title of the first movement, If Wishes Could, may indicate the desire for a resolution or fulfillment of a wish, about which one is unsure. However, the composer desires the audience to abstract their own ideas about the work. Wings of a Whim may have been so named because of the capricious interplay between the soloists and accompaniment parts, but one must ask the question, "Does a whim have wings?"
Songs for a Poet was commissioned by James Boatman and Stephen Pollock for a recital at the University of Michigan in 1987. Although the titles are highly suggestive of programmatic ideas, this work actually had no programmatic intent. The title of the first movement, If Wishes Could, may indicate the desire for a resolution or fulfillment of a wish, about which one is unsure. However, the composer desires the audience to abstract their own ideas about the work. Wings of a Whim may have been so named because of the capricious interplay between the soloists and accompaniment parts, but one must ask the question, "Does a whim have wings?"