Nell Shaw Cohen Presents The Coming of Spring

The Coming of Spring is a one-act monodrama for tenor accompanied by flute (piccolo), oboe (English Horn), clarinet (bass clarinet), bassoon, horn, and piano, based on the life, paintings, and writings of visionary American watercolorist Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893-1967).

The monodrama follows Burchfield’s artistic and personal journey from 1917 to 1943, tracing the development of the titular painting — which conveys the transition from winter to spring in a single image — from inception to completion.

The idea for this painting comes to Burchfield shortly after he graduates from art school. However, it takes decades for him to develop the understanding of nature, the painterly technique, and the personal clarity he needs to express his vision: from days spent collecting butterflies during his rural Midwestern childhood, to the years in which he supports his large family by producing popular images of industrial and suburban scenery in Buffalo, NY.

In 1943, Burchfield has an artistic revelation leading to the long-awaited completion of The Coming of Spring. In this moment, he fully realizes the aesthetic of nature and fantasy that will fuel his work to the end of his life.

You can learn more about Burchfield's life and paintings on Nell Shaw Cohen's multimedia educational guide,Beyond the Notes: Music Inspired by Art, and on the website of the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Music Inspired by Art
The works of composer and librettist Nell Shaw Cohen frequently explore the intersections between music, nature, and visual art.

Her wind quintet Watercolors, also inspired by Burchfield’s paintings, was performed to standing room-only audiences at the grand opening of the new Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY. "Nell’s extraordinary interdisciplinary vision…was an ideal program to introduce the public to the museum’s collection with music and images," commented Andrea Grover, Curator of Special Programs at the Parrish.

Nancy Weekly, Burchfield scholar and Head of Collections and Curator at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, has written: "Nell Shaw Cohen deserves superlative praise for her compositions inspired by art, particularly her understanding of Charles E. Burchfield’s rapport with nature."

Learn more and listen to Nell's music at nellshawcohen.com. Contact her at nell@nellshawcohen.com

Brooklyn-based composer and multimedia artist-producer Nell Shaw Cohen writes lyrically expressive, visually evocative music for chamber ensembles, orchestra, solo voice, choir, wind ensemble, and rock band. The JACK Quartet, New York University Symphony, WordSong, and members of The Chelsea Symphony and A Far Cry, among others, have performed her music in museums, concert halls, theaters, and salons.