Works Vocal I Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Songs (1943)
Overview
I Hate Music!: A Cycle of Five Kid Songs is dedicated to Edys Merril, a friend of Bernstein's, as well as an artist and his flatmate in the 1940s. Apparently, when fed up with hearing Bernstein constantly coaching singers and playing piano, she often uttered the title phrase. Premiered at soprano Jennie Tourel's American Debut in New York, the cycle was heralded by Virgil Thomson of the New York Herald Tribune “witty, alive and adroitly fashioned”.
Bernstein states at the beginning of the song cycle:
In the performance of these songs, coyness is to be assiduously avoided. The natural, unforced sweetness of child expressions can never be successfully gilded; rather will it come through the music in proportion to the dignity and sophisticated understanding of the singer.
SONGS:
1. My Name is Barbara
2. Jupiter Has Seven Moons
3. I Hate Music!
4. A Big Indian and A Little Indian
5. I'm a Person Too
Related Works
La Bonne Cuisine
Piccola Serenata
My Twelve Tone Melody
Details
To perform I Hate Music, please contact Boosey & Hawkes. For general licensing inquiries, click here.
To purchase sheet music for I Hate Music, visit our store.
Media
My Name is Barbara Sample
Boosey & Hawkes
I Hate Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs for Soprano: I. My Name is Barbara
Sony Music Entertainment