“I composed Early Snow between November 2002 and March 2003. The cycle was commissioned by Dr. Adelaide Whitaker for soprano Jennifer Check. Its base is the poetry of Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Oliver (1935-), whose three poems are reflections about nature. My goal in all settings is the primacy of the text. This means that meters shift constantly to follow the natural rhythms of the poem, melodies are structured to emphasize the most important words in a phrase, tempos are flexible and harmonies change to color the emotional content. In this way, every word in every poem is bound inextricably to the music.”

–Lori Laitman

1. Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
2. Blue Iris
3. Early Snow