Copyright Isabella Nicole Ness & Trichord Publishing, 2016. All rights reserved.

ISABELLA NICOLE NESS

Ever Yours, Vincent

a correspondence
for baritone and piano

2015

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Isabella Nicole Ness is a composer, vocalist,

and sound designerintent on exploring and
challenging the principles of narrative.
Part of a family of artists and readers,
Isabella was born in 1993 in Alexandria,
Virginia. Her sound aims to illustrate vivid
moments by coloring emotions, characters,
and scenes with purposeful orchestration
and evocative melody.
Isabella is a graduate ofTemple
Universitys Boyer College of Music and
Dance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where
she earned a Bachelor of Music in composition in 2016. She has studied piano
and vocal pedagogy with Carol Hoppe Roberts and vocal performance under
Angela Winter. During her time at Temple, Isabellastudied composition and
computer music synthesis with Maurice Wright and Adam Vidiksis.
A founding member of the Boyer Electroacoustic Ensemble Project (BEEP), she
has also collaborated often with students of dance at the Boyer College and other
creators in the Philadelphia areanotably the performing arts association Lyric
Festcomposing pieces and soundscapes for performance ortechnology
integration.Alongside exploring the renaissance of traditional art song &opera,
she alsocraftsoriginal music,sound environments, and SFX assets for video
games and other interactive media. On the stage, she has appeared as Venus in
Maurice Wrights robotic opera,Galatea_RESET.

PROGRAM NOTE

Between the years of 1872 and 1890, Vincent van Gogh wrote upwards of
nine-hundred letters to his younger brother, Theo. The letters spanned
topics ranging from idle complaints of Vincents lodgings and his lack of
fundsoften followed by a request for a few francs or thanks for the
handful Theo had already sentto deep, troubled musings on his fits of
mental illness.
The uniting factors in many of these letters, particularly those written in
the last couple years of his life, are his tangential descriptions of the colors
and shapes surrounding him in nature. One can easily see the origins of his
paintings as he writes of the skies and the horizons.
Ever Yours, Vincent comes from a letter written in 1888, two years before his
death, filled with such disparate contentment and melancholy that it
becomes impossible not to feel the tidal ebb and flow of the words as they
leap from the page.

PERFORMANCE NOTE

Accidentals last throughout the measure.

Guidelines for occasional French/Dutch text setting have been footnoted in
the score.
Duration ca. 4:58

Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, on or about Sunday, 3 or Monday, 4 June 1888.

My dear Theo,
Im writing to you from Saintes-Maries on the Mediterranean at last
the Mediterranean has a colour like mackerel, in other words, changing you dont
always know if its green or purple you dont always know if its blue because a
second later, its changing reflection has taken on a pink or grey hue
Ive brought three canvases and Ive covered them two seascapes a view of the
village and some drawings which Ill send you by post when I get back to Arles
tomorrow
The beach here is sandy, no cliffs or rocks like Holland without the dunes and
with more blue
I dont believe there are one-hundred houses in this village, or town. The chief building
after the old church, an ancient fortress, is the barracks. And what houses at that like
those on our Drenthe heaths and peat bogs, youll see some specimens in the
drawings
Im staying till tomorrow afternoon, have still got some drawings to do.
I took a walk along the seashore one night, on the deserted beach. It wasnt cheerful, but
not sad either, it was beautiful.
The sky, a deep blue, was flecked with clouds of a deeper blue than primary blue, an
intense cobalt, and with others that were a lighter blue like the blue whiteness of
milky ways. Against the blue background stars twinkled, bright, greenish, white, light
pink
the shore a sort of violet and faint russet as I saw it, and on the dunes some bushes
Prussian blue.
In addition to half-sheet drawings I have a large drawing, the pendant of the last one.
More soon, I hope. Handshake.
Ever yours,
Vincent

Sources:
http://www.vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let619/letter.html (trans. 1990, Sue Dyson & Imogen Forster)
with selections from http://www.vggallery.com/letters/to_theo_main.htm (trans. 2001, R.G. Harrison)

Ever Yours, Vincent

winner of the 2016 Lyric Fest Young Composers Composition Competition
text from a letter to Theo van Gogh from
Vincent van Gogh, June 1888
(tr. Sue Dyson & Imogen Forster, R.G. Harrison,
used with permission)

Isabella Nicole Ness (b. 1993)

Tenderly

mp
Andante q = 76

#
?4
4

Baritone

Andante q = 76

My dear The - o,
As a docked boat in the tide

4
&4
Piano

mp
? 4 #
4

#
#

#

e=e
mf

Bar.

3
#
? J # 12 #
8
J

n n 44

I'm wri-ting to you from Saintes - Ma - ries* on the Med -i - ter -ra - ne -an at

#
12

&

j

>

Pno.
e=e

? #

12
8

last

j 44

mf
4
4

n
>
.
3
3
3

J
J

{
9

?
Bar.

the Med -i - ter - ra - ne - an

has a

col - or like mack' rel,

in o -ther words,

&

Pno.

12

Bar.

3
J

chan - ging

you don't al -ways know if it's green

or pur - ple,

&

Pno.

* [snt-mari]
Copyright Trichord Press & Isabella Nicole Ness, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

f
2
15
3
J

?
Bar.

b

J 45

you don't al -ways know if it's blue

bb

be -cause a se -cond la ter,

&

its

5
4

5
4

Pno.

bb

18

mp
3

Bar.

3 b
b

?5
4

chan - ging re - ec -tion has ta -ken on a pink

5
& 4 <b>

?5
4

4 n
4

or grey

hue...

4
4

Pno.

4
4

20

q. = 70

12
8

Bar.

q. = 70
Rollicking, like a building wave

b b 12
&
8

3
3
3
3

subito mp

Pno.
f

12 b b
8 J

b b
J
b

With much thought

23

mf
Bar.

? b

I've brought three

can

vas - es

and

I've

co - vered them

Pno.

J
two

&
?

3
24

Bar.

? J

sea - scapes

J
a

view

of

the

vil - lage

and some

&
Pno.

25
? n

Bar.

b
b

b j

draw -ings which I'll send you by post when I get back to Arles** to - mor - row...

&
f
Pno.

Broadly; extremely pleased

27

?
Bar.

J
The beach

Pno.

&

here

J J
is san - dy,

no

cliffs

or

q = 72
p

29

mf

?
Bar.

J J

rocks

b
J

like Hol - land

with -out

the dunes and with more

w
4 bU
4
blue...

q = 72

b
&

U
bbb
4

4
2

mf

p dolce

mp

Pno.

w
w

** [al]

4 bbb
4

4
Whistful

32

q = 76

mp

b b

J b

mf

Bar.

I don't be - lieve

there are one - hun - dred

q = 76
Calmly; a return to before

As splashing tide

b b

& b

mp
Pno.

? b

b b

b b

36

? b

5 b b
4

Bar.
hous - es

in this

4 b
4 J

The chief build - ing

vil lage, or town.

b b b b
b b b
b

5
b
b 4 b
&
4
4
mf
Pno.

? b

b 5
b 4

b b
J

4 b
4

b b

39
3

Bar.

b
J

?
b b b

af - ter the old church,

an an - cient for -

tress,

is

the

b
b b

b b
b
b

&
p
Pno.

? b

b b

bw
bw

43

mp

? b

b b

Bar.
And

bar - racks.

what

hous - es

&
Pno.

? w
w

bw
bw

bw
bw

at

J
like

that

5
46

mf

b
?

b
b b

Bar.

those in our Dren - the***

heaths

and

peat

bogs,

J
you'll

b b
b

&
mf
Pno.

b b

b
b
b b

48

b b

b

? b

Bar.
see some spe - ci mens in the draw - ings...

bb

b b bb

Pno.

b b
b

b
b b b b

b
?

b b
b
b

b b

&

52

mp

Bar.
I'm

3
b b b

stay - ing 'til to - mor - row

af - ter - noon,

ww

ww

b
bb

&
mp

Pno.

? n

b
w
w

Freely

56
3
3
U
b

j
b

?
b w

q = 68

Bar.
have still got some draw - ings to

do.

q = 68

U
w
w

pp

Starlight

&
Pno.

{
*** [drnt]

U
b
w
bww
&

b b

mp
6
Breathless, taken by emotion

61
3
b 3

Bar.
I took a walk a - long the sea - shore one night,

on the de - sert - ed

&
Pno.

&

q = 84
64

J 12
8

Bar.
beach.

but not sad

It was -n't cheer - ful,

ei - ther,

it was

q = 84

bw

b ww

12
8

&
mp

Pno.

? b

12
8

{
q = q.
68
Absolute bliss

Bar.

mf

? 12 b
8
beau

ti

2
b
j

b J b J

The sky,

- ful.

q = q.

b
12
&8

was eck'd with clouds

b b
J

a deep blue,

b
J

mf

b b

Pno.

? 12
8

b n
J
J

72

<b>
?

b b
J

Bar.
of a deep - er

blue than pri - ma - ry

n
J
blue,

&

an in - tense

b b b 9
J
J 8
co - balt, and with

b b

9
8

Pno.

? b

9
8

b
w

7
mp
74

Bar.

? 9 b j 12
8
8
J
o - thers that were a light - er

n
b

? 9 b b
8

9
&8
Pno.

b bJ

blue

like the blue

12 b J J b
8

b b
12
8

b
w
w
2

f
77

? n n J

white - ness of the milk - y

#

J
J

Bar.
ways.

A - gainst the blue

w
w

15
8
back -

Pno.

2 n

79

Bar.

? 15
8
stars

twin - kled, bright,

15
& 8

J 12
8

green - ish, white, light

15
&8
2

ground

15
8

15

&8

&
?

pink...

J
the

12
8

Pno.

12 n
8

rit.
81

mf
2

?
Bar.

a sort of vio - let and faint

rus - set as I saw it,

shore

&

and

on the dunes some

mp
2

rit.
Pno.

? w

w
w

Wearily

8
q. = 80

q = 70
mf

84

mp
Bar.

J
bush - es

Prus - sian

44

#
J
J

blue.

In

ad - di - tion

to

As an oarsman slowly reaching home

q. = 80

q = 70

& J

4
4

#
#

j 44

Pno.

?
J

88

? n

#
R

Bar.

half sheet draw - ings

Up
J

I have a large draw - ing, the pen - dant of the last one.

& n

More

J
pp

Pno.

?
-

91

? n

Bar.
soon,

I hope.

Hand - shake.

>

Ev - er yours,

Vin - cent

#U

&

Pno.

Santa Fe, 2015