A Woman’s Life and Loves, a song cycle for soprano and piano on original texts. Duration 13’30”. (1995) Could also be sung by a mezzo-soprano. Can be interpolated into Robert Schumann’s Die Frauenliebe und -leben or performed independently.

This cycle was commissioned by soprano Eileen Moore. The texts of the Schumann cycle portray a woman’s life from her first crush through her marriage and the birth of her son—and then skip to the death of her husband. Eileen wondered, what happened in between those two momentous events; for that matter, what happened afterward? These five songs attempt to answer those questions; the first four come between Schumann’s songs 7 & 8, and the last follows Schumann’s song 8. Thematic material from the Schumann is woven throughout (optional in the stand-alone version), and key relationships are in keeping with the Schumann. I also have created a new English translation of the original texts of the Schumann cycle, to allow the combined cycle to be performed all in the same language.

The recordings feature Eileen Moore, and David Wolfson, piano. Recorded during a live concert at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City.