Dr. Vera Ivanova, Composer
Vera Ivanova,
composer

'...internationally recognized as an emerging artist of great talent.'

Campus Times (University of Rochester/Eastman)

May Day

for TTBB a cappella choir (2015)

May Day is composed as a companion to Snow Song, which was written by request for Angel Vázquez- Ramos and CalState Fullerton's Men's Chorus in April 2015, as a continuation of our collaboration (my “Three Summer Songs” for women’s choir was also written for and premiered by Angel Vázquez- Ramos).

Program Notes:
May Day is composed as a companion to Snow Song, which was written by request for Angel Vázquez-
Ramos and CalState Fullerton's Men's Chorus in April 2015, as a continuation of our collaboration (my
“Three Summer Songs” for women’s choir was also written for and premiered by Angel Vázquez-
Ramos). While I was working on my first composition for men's chorus, Snow Song, I first composed the
music and then started looking for the text. It was a reverse process: first came the music, and then I
came across the text by Sara Teasdale, which coincided not only rhythmically with the piece, but also
reflected a character of the song, anticipating the spring’s spirit of self-sacrificial love. Once I
discovered Sara Teasdale's poetry, I felt that her poetry was ideal for setting to music, and I continued
with the setting of Teasdale's May Day to music (this time the text came first), which is meant to be
performed after my Snow Song, just as spring follows winter. May Day's music pays tribute to Barbershop
style and should be performed with a little bit of a "swing," depicting the atmosphere of New York of the
1920-1930s.

Instrumentation
T-TT-BB-B a cappella
Duration
c. 2 minutes 45 seconds
Text
Sara Teasdale
Language
English