​Volume V. 

​Voice
                            Book I.  Solo Voice with Orchestra:
    
Book Ia. Story Cycles (See IV/III for dance options)  
1.    Orpheus in The Underworld:  14 minute of cycle of  7 for low voice; 
​The text, in Latin, is by Boethius.This version has an unhappy ending. 
2a. Orpheus in The Underworld: with percussion, timpani and string orchestra.  
2b. Orpheus in The Underworld: with orchestra: 2+/2+/2+/2+  2/2/2/1  percussion, timpani, celesta, harp and strings.

​2c. Orpheus in The Underworld: with piano; cablecast as "Eurydice" as part of "Crazy Dinosaurs" on BNN-TV, with DEW performing the music.  To hear "Eurydice" and to see the scores to several of the songs please click on either of the two dinosaurs to the right:
2.   Remembrance of Love's Death: 
21 minute cycle of 12 songs; Emily Dickinson (uc); 
2a. Remembrance of Love's Death: for low voice with orchestra:  2/2/2   2/2/1/1   harp, percussion & strings. See the same selections in Volume III, Book ViII.
2b. Remembrance of Love's Death: for low voice with harp and double bass string quartet or string orchestra;
2c. Remembrance of Love's Death: for low voice with piano.
9 of the songs were performed by the composer with pianist, Eileen Feldman at 1st and 2nd Unitarian Society, Boston. Please click on Eileen Feldman to the right to hear the premiere:
Eileen Feldman, pianist
​VIII/V/1, 2, & 8: music theater song cycles; IV/V/3/1, 2, & 8 for dance options.

Book Ib. Song Groups: 
1.    Song Of The Figot Bird:  12 minutes and 40 seconds: cycle of 4 songs for low voice to poems (under copyright (uc)) by Samuel Beckett. Unperformed.
1a.  Song Of The Figot Bird: with percussion, timpani, harp, viola solo & string orchestra.  
1b.  Song Of The Figot Bird: with harp and string quartet.  
1c.  Song Of The Figot Bird:  with piano.

​2.   Deep River: 15 minute cycle of 9 spirituals.  
​2a. Deep River:  high voice with piano:  "Swing Low" was first performed by soprano, Dorothy Yanish, with pianist, Merton
Brown (Swing Low); Please click on the button below to hear
​this performance:
Dorothy Yanish, soprano
​​The complete cycle was premiered by Christopher Aaron
Smith, tenor, with pianist, Yelena Birayeva at Boston Metro
Opera on 1/27/12. This performance was first posted to celebrate
Martin Luther King Day, 2021. You can hear this performance
​by clicking on Dr. King (right):
Dr. Martin Luther King
2b. Deep River: Selections performed by Sonante (soprano
​Annalise Skovman with 'cello and guitar) version withheld;  
2c. Deep River: low voice and orchestra: 2/2+/2+/2+  2/2/1/1 percussion, timpani,
​harp and strings. 4 alternate versions of #3 including VI/III/4/1 & 7. See III/VII/3.
2d. Deep River: low voice and piano; 9 spirituals; the original version: 7 spirituals, first performed with pianist, Barbara Roth at The First Unitarian Society of Newton, MA.. "Wayfaring Stranger" performed by the composer with Leo Abbott, pianist.  
and heard on WBZ radio. The order doesn't matter; songs can be omitted at will. All of the songs are best suited for a low voice; except for "I got a robe" and "Swing low, Sweet chariot" which are better for a high voice. "I am a poor Wayfaring Stranger" can be done equally well by either a high or low voice.

3.   2 Songs to Poems by James Joyce:  19 minutes; two songs for low voice, with interludes. Taken from "The Journey."  See IV/IV/2 and VII/IV/1. May be performed with "Three songs to Poems by James Joyce" by Merton Brown, soon to be orchestrated.
3a. 2 Songs to Poems by James Joyce: mallets, percussion, piano, optional harp, and D. B. string quartet or string orchestra.
3b. 2 Songs to Poems by James Joyce: with synthesizer.
3c. 2 Songs to Poems by James Joyce: with piano.

                    Book II.  Two Solo Voices with Instruments: 

1.    yes:  3 minutes; three duets for two high voices with clarinet or English horn; poem by e. e. cummings (uc).  

2.   Three Folk Songs: 8 minutes. ​
2a. Three Folk Songs: for high voice (#1 & #4) and low voice (#3) with flute and guitar.Performed several times by The Putnam Court Musicians:  Kristin Webb, flute; Russell Southcott, guitar, soprano, Mary Saunders (# 1 & 3 (right))  and DEW, bass-baritone (# 3).​George W. Harper of Beverly Times wrote of this piece: ​"Easily the highlight of the concert were several arrangements by David Edgar Walther... Especially satisfying was Walther's setting of three familiar folk songs, a medley that managed to sidestep all the stereotypes with a version of Simple Gifts that owed absolutely nothing to Aaron Copeland's. Walther's touching arrangements of Long Time Ago set Mary Saunders' rich, soprano peeping through the lush harmonic haze of flute and guitar like the sun through the clouds.'  See versions below with a single high voice or single low voice.
1. Long Time Ago: Ms. Saunders, soprano
​Ms. Webb, flute & and Mr. Southcott, guitar;
2. John Henry: DEW, bass-baritone;
Ms. Webb, & Mr. Southcott;
3. Simple Gifts: Ms. Saunders;
​Ms. Webb, & and Mr. Southcott;
2b.   Three Folk Songs: for high voice with flute and guitar: "John Henry" transposed upward, so that the cycle can be performed by high voice.  The rest of the cycle works in the original key for low voice as well as high. The original version, for 2 voices is best.


; 
                           Book III. Solo Voice with Instruments

Book IIIa.  High Voice with Instruments: 
1.    Echoes:  lyric high soprano & violin,viola, flute or clarinet; 3 minutes;  Hart Crane; premiered by soprano, Deborah Cole and violist, David Feltner & Music Now at Holy Trinity Armenian Church, Cambridge, MA. Heard numerous times on WHRB Radio. 


2.   Serenade and Fugue:  soprano and flute;  
4 and a half  minutes; Thomas Hardy; performed several times by soprano, Mary Saunders & Kristin Webb, flute. ​ To hear "Serenade Fugue" please click
​on the red button below:
2w. A Secret and a Thought:  The withheld original version:  for two sopranos; 1 minutes; "A Secret and a Thought" with poem by Ann Head (uc) was included in a withheld cycle, performed in Rockport, MA by sopranos: Janet Wheeler and Charlotte Lord with a text by Ann Head (uc). Partially lost. The manuscript may be in South Korea: a Korean soprano at Juilliard promised to send it back to me, but never did! (Oh, well!)   

3.   Six Valentine's Day Cards:  6 minute cycle for soprano, flute, harp and piano;
Emily Dickinson; performed, in an earlier, withheld version by Eric Mazonson, pianist, in Marblehead, MA. with soprano, Mary Saunders; Kristin Webb, flute; and Russell Southcott, guitar: The Putnam Court Musicians (PCM).
​
4.   Simples of The Moon:  6 minute cycle of 6;  Joyce. Unperformed.   
4a. Simples of The Moon:  high voice with flute & viola. See V/IIIb/5b.

5.   Some Things That Fly:  7 songs for soprano, flute & guitar to poems by Emily Dickinson; 10 minutes & 35 seconds; 5 songs performed several times by The Putnam Court Musicians: Mary Saunders, soprano; Kristin Webb, flute and Russell Southcott, guitar To hear 3 of these Emily Dickinson Songs please click on the red button below:
                     Mary Saunders, soprano
6. Diptych: 12 minutes and 40 seconds; 3 movements; for soprano, flute, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, and piano; poem (probably) by Samuel Beckett (u.c.) The movements are 1. Unhinged I. Theme and Variations; 2. The Hinge: Song and Canon; 3. Unhinged II: Double Fugue. Performed by the Milestone Trio: flute, bassoon and piano (Phyllis Lehrer, piano) at Princeton University, in a withheld trio version without clarinet or soprano. Otherwise unperformed.
7.    Echo and Mirage:  13 minutes, 3 movements, Christina Rossetti. 
7a.  Echo and Mirage: with alto flute, clarinet in Bb, marimba, percussion, harp, piano, viola, and 'cello. Unperformed. 
7b.  Echo and Mirage: with flute, clarinet in Bb, violin, 'cello and piano. Unperformed. 
7c.  Echo and Mirage: with piano. Recorded by soprano, Nancy King with the composer, piano; otherwise unperformed.  
To hear "Mirage" the second of three movements, please click on the red to the right:
   
8.   Hymns of Orpheus:  30 minute cycle of 8 songs; with flute and guitar;  trans. Thomas Taylor. A transposed version, for low voice also exists.


Book IIIb. Low Voice with Instruments:
1.   The Conqueror Worm: with violin, 5 minutes, The complete version of the poem "Ligeia" by Edgar Alan Poe. Unperformed. IVb. 3. "Last Murmurs of Ligeia" for low voice and piano, below, is a partial setting of the text.
​
​2.   Simples of The Moon:  6 minute cycle of 6;  Joyce. Unperformed.   
5b. Simples of The Moon:  low voice with flute and 'cello; #4. may be done with alto flute. See III/Va/5a.

3.   Recitative: 7 minute song with guitar;  Hart Crane.

4.  Echo's Bones: A 9 & a half minute cycle of 5 with 'cello; poems by Samuel Beckett (uc); four of the songs were performed by the composer with Priscilla Chew (right), at 1st and 2nd, Boston. Please click on the buttons below,
​or on Priscilla's 'cello to read the poems:
Priscilla Chew, 'cello
Click to set custom HTML
5.  Hear The Trumpet: with 'cello & double bass;  10 minute cycle of 5 spirituals.  Unperformed.

6.   Five Thoughts:  13 minutes. 
6a. Five Thoughts:  for low voice with double bass string quartet. 
6b. Five Thoughts: for low voice with piano.
1.    A Thought:  with guitar;  2 minutes; Emily Dickinson. alternate version with guitar.
2.   all worlds have half-sight:  very low voice; 3 minutes; e. e. cummings (uc).

3.   Crazy Dinosaurs: 
one minute and thirteen second theme song for the cable TV show, recorded by DEEW, cablecast on BNN-TV. To hear the theme song to "Crazy Dinosaurs" please click on the dinosaur to the right:
4.   Wondering:  2 minute song to Charles Schultz (uc) from "Snoopy" comic strip.
5.   A Thought:  as the first song.

                             Book IV.  Solo Voice with Piano: 

Book IVa. High Voice with Piano:
1.   Love Suicides at Sonezaki:  3 minutes; in Japanese, performed at The United Parish in Brookline, MA by mezzo-soprano, Shinobu Takagi, with pianist,  Darryl Cooper. Cablecast BNN-TV with animated netsuki as the video "Love Song" as part of "Crazy Dinosaurs" that was cablecast on BNN-TV. Withheld.

2.  De Profundis Clamavit:  3 minutes, premiered at The United Parish in Brookline, MA by Shinobu Takagi, mezzo-soprano and Daryl Cooper, pianist. See IV/II/3c.
​
3.  Three Short Songs:  6 minutes; Emily Dickinson (uc), James Joyce and Robert Lewis Stevenson. See VI/IV/4/3. Unperformed.

4.  When The Heart is Full of Love: 8 minutes; 3 songs to anonymous poets.

​5.  The Steeple's Remembrance: 10 minute cycle of 10 each depicting the ghost of a woman who has died; Dickinson (uc). Unperformed.


Book IVb. Low Voice with Piano: See also Book I above.
1.   Last Murmurs of Ligeia:  5 minute cycle of 3 songs excerpted from the poem "Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe.  Performed and taped at BPL, by the composer. See complete setting of the poem below: "The Conqueror Worm" with violin above:  IIb/3.
2.  Three Portraits: 6 minutes;  performed several times with by the composer with pianist, Merton Brown. To hear "Three Portraits" please click on the buttons below; or to read the poems click on Drew's artwork:
1. Old Love: poem by William Butler Yeats:
2. Young Love: poem by Linda Ann Cecil (uc):
3. Secret Love: poem by Emily Dickinson (uc):
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​3. Three Songs to Poems by James Joyce:  8 minute cycle of 3;  2 lost and incomplete;
​one available. Unperformed.  

 4. Songs of Summer or Blake Songs: 10 minute cycle with text from "Songs of Innocence and Experience" by William Blake. Performed by mezzo-soprano, Susan Craft Larson and pianist, Yelana Birayeva with Boston Metro Opera on 1/27/12. You can hear this performance by clicking on the buttons below:
Also performed by the baritones: Brett Johnson, at Andover Academy; and by Hartmut Schultz, in Bonn and Cologne, Germany in 2018. Performed by the composer on many occasions with pianists, Merton Brown and Dr. Samuel Walter. You can hear my performance with my father, Dr. Walter by clicking
on the butterfly to the right. You can read the Blake
poems there as well:
5.   Rain has Fallen: 10 minute cycle of 5; Joyce.  Unperformed. 

6.   Chamber Music:  15 minute cycle of 5 songs, Joyce; Performed and recorded at: BPL, Old South, Boston, Colby College, ME, and many other times by the composer with pianists Merton Brown, Eileen Feldman,& Dr. Sam Walter.
 
7.   Great Streets of Silence: 16 minute cycle of 9 songs;  Dickinson (uc).  Unperformed. 
​                                 
                               Book V.  Unaccompanied Voice
​
Book Ia.  Unaccompanied for High Voice
1.  Dachshund: 47 seconds; poem by Jill Shapiro (uc). Unperformed.

2. Mother Goose Songs: 3 minute cycle of 7 songs in 100 notes; Mother Goose. Unperformed.

3. Night over Bass Rocks: 4 minutes & 40 seconds;  cycle of 3 songs to poems
by James Joyce. Written for my mother: Janet Wheeler Walter, for her birthday. Unperformed. 

4. Cal'mus: 6.5 minute cycle of  4 gay love songs for tenor; ​poems by Walt Whitman from "The Leaves of Grass."                      To see the score please use the PDF:
Premiered by tenor, Christopher Aaron Smith (below), on 1/27/2012 with Boston Metro Opera. To hear Cal'mus please click on the red button below Mr. Smith:
Christopher Aaron Smith, tenor
. 
​Book Ib.  Unaccompanied Low Voice:
1.   The Book of Runes:   written in Ireland; 3 cycles; contemporary plain song to poems by James Joyce.  See "The Journey" IV/IV/2 and VII/IV/1 for more contemporary plainsong.

​1a. The Folk Cycle: 15 minute cycle of 8 songs; 7 songs performed by the composer at The  Boston Public (BPL).   

1b. The Whole Tone Cycle: 4.5 minute cycle of 3 songs; performed by DEW at 1st & 2nd Unitarian n Boston.
​To hear the recording please click on the button below.
1c. The Modern Cycle: 5 minute cycle of 3. The 2nd song is used & recorded in "The Journey" IV/IV/2 & VII/III/2, otherwise unperformed. 
   David Edgar Walther, ​bass-baritone

4. A Tree: 49 seconds; Joyce Kilmer. Written for Virginia Harms, alto soloist for
​The Easter Show at Radio City Music Hall and my dear friend. Unperformed. ​
David Edgar Walther Copyright 2020