Dennis M. Tobenski - Works - And He'll Be Mine

1. I have not loved you
2. Cliffs and coves
3. And the hills
4. I'm being silly
5. I reach into the tidal pool
6. Down Pescadero Beach

I composed Starfish at Pescadero in the Fall of 2007, on commission from Percussia, a Queens-based ensemble whose founder, Ingrid Gordon, had performed in the premiere of my Songs of Love & Madness in 2006. I had originally intended to use fragments of the poetry of Sappho for the piece, weaving them into a loose dramatic scena. I was overjoyed, however, to be introduced to the work of Idris Anderson, who I met while we were in residence together at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in March 2006. The Sappho had “been done” by countless composers, while Idris’ poetry was new and excited me much more.

The cycle is composed of six uninterrupted songs. The poetry, on the surface, is a trip to the beach—little vignettes of a couple. Underneath it’s about the inexplicable sadness that can accompany even the happiest times, and an inability to communicate our feelings to one another, particularly to those we love most.

The cycle starts ambiguously with the song “I have not loved you”. Throughout the cycle, the soprano addresses the secret object of her love: a woman she is spending a day with at Pescadero Beach. Here, she sets the scene – the beautiful California coast, and her quiet adoration: “You cannot see me loving you.”

“Cliffs and coves” is filled with nervous energy. The landscape descriptions from the preceding song are continued to a fast, lively music (each song contains a description of the scenery as the pair makes their way down the beach), which slows as the soprano tells of an incident where her companion gives her a starfish, the first of the cycle’s titular creatures. The starfish is covered in markings that resemble the Greek letter lambda, which has been adopted as a symbol of the gay community.

“And the hills” is a moment of happiness after the gift of the starfish. This pseudo-aria is the cycle’s only moment of undiluted happiness, which draws its contentment from a sense of merely being, a happiness unspoilt by silly anxieties. In the instrumental accompaniment for this song, I have referred to my Sweet Briar Songs, which were also written as a result of my residence at the VCCA when I met Idris.

The lyrical ending to “And the hills” is sharply interrupted by a moment of silliness in “I’m being silly”. Here, objects washed onto the beach become props for the soprano’s clowning to impress her companion. The song parodies “Take me out to the ball game” as the soprano uses a stalk of dried kelp as a baseball bat, then switches to a mock-sexy moment with a lightbulb (the soprano is instructed here to sing “in the manner of a lounge singer”), and the parody returns and fragments as the antics reach their peak.

“I reach into the tidal pool” opens with a recitative that centers around a segment of a descending minor scale – an extension of the cycle’s opening motive. Here, the soprano attempts to return her friend’s earlier gesture by giving her a starfish, in turn. However, this starfish is still alive, and “a living starfish will not let go”. Here, the soprano realizes that although they may later return to this spot, it will not be the same.

“Down Pescadero Beach” brings the cycle to a quiet close. The two beach-goers walk to the lighthouse, and despite its beauty, the soprano sees it as a symbol of the distancebetween herself and her friend that she had not noticed before. Like the starfish itself, the day has been beautiful, but without life.
(rev. March 2008)