Compositions

“Life in the Time of Warming” is a poem that derives its inspiration from the book
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells. Quite simply, you will not be the
same after you read this book about the consequences of global warming. We are just
starting to see these consequences; we are living in the time of warming. The names of
the three parts share the same names of the first three parts of Wells’s book.
“Cascades” brings up the idea of feedback loops. If x happens, then y happens. If y happens, then z happens. If z happens, that makes x worse, which in turn makes y worse, which in turn makes z worse. Etc., etc. “Elements” focuses on the effects of climate change across different environments. “Kaleidoscope” is the way we view global warming, watching the changing patterns of rotating colors without fully understanding their significance.

Special thanks to Marilyn Dumont for reading parts of the poem."
-Matthew Gwathmey

when the warmth is infinite

(2021)

for soprano, piano, fixed audio & video | 14 minutes

Created with Nicole Ross as part of Lucky Penny Opera's 48 Hour Opera Project on January 23rd & 24th, 2021.

Virtual video premiere watch party on Thursday, January 28th, 2021 at 6PM PST here.

That Star is Awake

(2021)

for piano and percussion

A piece created for the SHHH!! Ensemble to be premiered in 2022.

That Star is Awake

O littlest hands and dearest

(2021)

SATB choir | 5 minutes

An adaptable setting of Canadian poet Norah M. Holland's poem of the same name. Created to be performed virtually, in-person, or a combination of the two.

O Littlest Hands and Dearest

Norah M. Holland (1876-1925)

O littlest hands and dearest,
O golden heads and bright,
From out what dear dream country
Come you to me to-night?
For through the shadows falling
I hear your voices calling
Out of the magic spaces
Of infinite delight.

I see your curls a-glimmer,
I see your dear eyes shine,
I feel the childish fingers
Slipped softly into mine;
You bring me back the May-time,
The old, delightful play-time
When all the world was laughter
And life seemed half divine.

Thus, from the shades that gather
Around my path to-night
Your glad child-hands have drawn me
Back to your lands of light,
Giving me for my sadness
The medicine of your gladness,
O littlest hands and dearest,
O golden heads and bright.

For whales

(2020)

SATB choir and pre-recorded track | 6 minutes

Created with poet Jessica Hiemstra as part of the Amadeus Choir's 2020-2021 Choral Creation Lab Residency.

To be workshopped and premiered in early 2021.

Blizzard

(2020)

SATB choir and pre-recorded track | 4 minutes

Created with poet Genova (Julie Scrivener) as part of the Amadeus Choir's 2020-2021 Choral Creation Lab Residency.

To be workshopped and premiered in early 2021.

(Just) Play

(2020)

solo piano | 6 minutes

A recorded improvisation, and the 4th track on Edward's debut EP "Refuge" to be released in February 2021.

Unimagined Light

(2020)

for SATB choir and pre-recorded track | 4 minutes

Designed to be performed remotely online, or in-person.

Winning piece in the Canadian Chamber Choir's 2020 Composition Competition.

To be premiered virtually by the Canadian Chamber Choir at 9PM EST here.

Setting of the poem "As Day Begins to Wane" by Canadian musician, poet, and writer, Helena Coleman.

As Day Begins To Wane

Helena Coleman (1860-1953)

Encompassed by a thousand nameless fears,

I see life's little day begin to wane,

And hear the well-loved voices call in vain

Across the narrowing margin of my years;

And as the Valley of the Shadow nears,

Such yearning tides of tenderness and pain

Sweep over me that I can scarce restrain

The gathering flood of ineffectual tears.

Yet there are moments when the shadows bring
No sense of parting or approaching night,
But, rather, all my soul seems broadening
Before the dawn of unimagined light–
As if within the heart a folded wing
Were making ready for a wider flight.

Fireflies&Revolution

Fireflies & Revolution

(2020)

for string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) | 6 minutes

This piece was written over a week half-way through the year 2020 and in the midst of the COVID-19 world pandemic. The title presents two connected ideas:

1) “Fireflies”: Like many other musicians, for me the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in cancelled performances, isolation, and a sense of complete uncertainty regarding the future. My creative energy suffered, resulting in feelings of helplessness and unease. After a period of time and some deep personal reflection, I began to create again and build on the smallest of ideas. I later explained this to a friend and colleague as searching in the dark for fireflies. As a firefly glimmers, you can see the way – and you then wait for each successive glimmer to regain your direction and sense of purpose.

2) “Revolution”: The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, in the USA ignited a worldwide movement – a movement which has been underway for decades (centuries), but which has just recently penetrated deeper into the social conscience. The lack of creative direction I described above was also a result of my reflection and
education about my white, male privilege. It resulted in a feeling that nothing I create matters, especially at the moment. This was not a feeling of self-pity, and certainly not a refocusing of the narrative towards myself, but rather a reckoning with the unjust society which was built with dominating white privilege and deeply entrenched racism.

This is a system I have benefitted from at the expense of others and it is a deeply unjust system which is in need of reform.

Racism runs deep in every aspect of societal life and I am building all future projects in an anti-racist way. It is crucial to listen, read, and create space for Black voices, and also to continue to learn, reflect, speak out, and rebuild the systems all around us. My creation of this piece was an outlet and a reflection on these ideas as I seek to be a tangible part of change and racial justice.

The amplifying of Black voices and BIPOC voices is crucial. Here are just a few:
Rachel Cargle: https://www.rachelcargle.com/
Ijeoma Oluo: http://www.ijeomaoluo.com/
The Conscious Kid: https://www.theconsciouskid.org/
From Privilege to Progress: https://fromprivilegetoprogress.org/

All fees received by the composer from the publication of this work will be donated to the following organizations. The composer also encourages a proportional percentage of performance fees be donated as well. (For questions: https://edwardenman.com/contact)
Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/
Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP): https://transgenderlawcenter.org/programs/blmp
Anti Racism Fund: https://antiracismfund.org/
Black Table Arts: http://www.blacktablearts.com/
The Bail Project: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/the-bail-project

Between the alleys of the stars.

(2020)

SATB choir | 5 minutes

Interim

By Lola Ridge (1873-1941)

The earth is motionless

And poised in space…

A great bird resting in its flight

Between the alleys of the stars.

It is the wind's hour off….

The wind has nestled down among the corn….

The two speak privately together,

Awaiting the whirr of wings.

"The stillness and absence of movement in this text was the feature which first captured my attention. The single frozen moment which is so vivid in this poem is a contained and life-filled example of the beauty and magic of which our world is full. With a nod to the stars and Earth's place among them, this poem explores the beautiful and immense complexity of our planet through this isolated moment. With great anticipation of activity and change, this brief poem also vividly reveals our place in the world and our experience within it all.

My initial intent was for this piece to be a joyful celebration of the remarkable world in which we live, but as I spent more time thinking about the condition of Earth and its perilous direction, more pain and sadness found its way into the music. What we are left with is both an awe-filled celebration of Earth and a painful reflection on its deteriorating state. Eventually, I found that words failed me for it all - the awe-filled wonder, the earnest sadness, the appreciation, and the feeling of connection.

So it is also in this piece. As the words end, the music continues on to express that which words cannot. Our connectivity to the earth is crucial in our care of it. Acknowledging and admiring the sheer magnificence of our world inspires love and hope. This in turn inspires action to preserve and care for this planet which we call home. "

-The composer (May 28th, 2020)

Refuge

(2020)

Solo piano | 2 minutes

A brief piece for solo piano inspired by Sara Teasdale's poem of the same name, created at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was premiered by Adam Sherkin and Megan Thibeault as part of ICOT's 2020 Call for Scores in July 2020.

Interlude: Songs Out Of Sorrow
By Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)
VII. Refuge

From my spirit's gray defeat,
From my pulse's flagging beat,
From my hopes that turned to sand
Sifting through my close-clenched hand,
From my own fault's slavery,
If I can sing, I still am free.

For with my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit's sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.

I Would Live In Your Love

(2020)

Solo piano | 3 minutes | Private Commission

A seductive tango for solo piano with Sara Teasdale's poem "I Would Live In Your Love" used as inspiration.

I Would Live In Your Love
By Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea,
Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes;
I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me,
I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

(2020)

2 pianos, 4 hands | 8 minutes

Created in April/May 2020 during the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic, in isolation in Montreal.

As an outlet for anxious and restless energy, I sought to create a piece which I could play and record with myself from home. When I was asked why I was writing this, my response was:

"I have spent a great deal of my life as a composer looking at others' work and, to a certain extent, writing what I felt I should be writing. This was my chance to write exactly what I wanted and to be completely in control of the whole process while only being limited by my abilities as a pianist. It ended up being a cathartic experience in an uncertain and tense time."

breathe in, breathe out

Cadenza 1

Cadenza

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15

I. Allegro con brio

(2020)

Solo piano | 4 minutes

A cadenza for the first movement of Beethoven's 1st piano concerto largely derived from the thematic content in the first movement.

Premiere scheduled for the Grand Celebration of the Piano opening concert of Piano Day Montréal 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Room to see the sky

(2020)

SATB choir and piano

A sprawling, soaring setting of the poem "Leaves" by Sara Teasdale.

Leaves (1915)

Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

One by one, like leaves from a tree
All my faiths have forsaken me;
But the stars above my head
Burn in white and delicate red,
And beneath my feet the earth
Brings the sturdy grass to birth.
I who was content to be
But a silken-singing tree,
But a rustle of delight
In the wistful heart of night—
I have lost the leaves that knew
Touch of rain and weight of dew.
Blinded by a leafy crown
I looked neither up nor down—
But the little leaves that die
Have left me room to see the sky;
Now for the first time I know
Stars above and earth below.

The Lullaby Trilogy

Those Little Pins of Light

The Lullaby Trilogy

(2019)

I. Those Little Pins of Light

SATB choir and piano | Original text and music | 5 minutes

"This poem and tune were both inspired by the late-night and early-morning nonsense songs I sang to my baby daughter in her first few months of life. Although those songs and words were admittedly much sillier than this particular one, the general sentiment is the same: an easily sing-able melody with a folk-like quality inspired by the music of Nova Scotia and the East Coast with soothing words which will eventually comfort a little baby girl who cannot yet understand them."

Those Little Pins of Light

Edward Enman | 2018

Floating away and shining across,

Stars keep on watching long after loss.

Long after day and long after love,

Reaching with light from far up above.

Loo-loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo,

Loo-la-loo, loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo.

Sleep until morning, sleep through the night,

Follow the stars and all will be bright.

Fly away high and fly away far,

Fly away dancing from star to star.

Even in darkness you'll always be

Off on your own, now solo and free.

Loo-loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo,

Loo-la-loo, loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo.

Sleep until morning, sleep through the night,

Follow the stars and all will be bright.

Over and all around you will find

Pins of light shining through your whole mind.

Through ev'ry sight and through ev'ry sound,

Lifting and pushing you up with a bound.

Lighting your thoughts and showing your dreams,

Light is much warmer and full than it seems.

Circling and growing without the ends,

Closer than close, pins of light are your friends.

Floating above and shining across,

Stars keep on watching long after loss.

Long after day and long after love,

Reaching with light from far up above.

Loo-loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo,

Loo-la-loo, loo-la-loo, loo-loo-la-loo.

Sleep until morning, sleep through the night,

Follow the stars and all will be bright.

LIGHT UP

II. LIGHT UP

Treble choir with piano | Original text | 4 minutes

LIGHT UP

Edward Enman | 2019

In the air, I will send a breath of light up high

And push it past the sunlit day to play among the stars.

Listen closely, hear the moving wind that flies to you –

Light up, I will lead you all along the way.

Light up.

Have you wondered in the dark of where the light has gone?

Or do you look for quiet places hiding under day?

In the night or with the sun, you can always shine –

Light up, light up, light up,

Light up, light up,

Light up.

All the love that lies beneath

III. All the love that lies beneath

Winner of the Chronos Vocal Ensemble's 2022 Composition Competition

SATB choir | Original text | 5 minutes

All the love that lies beneath

Edward Enman | 2019

Leading, moving t’ward the end,

Warmly show and freely send

All the love that lies beneath.

Hide the day in mem’ries deep

And keep all openness in sleep.

Find the love that lies beneath.

When all lights in towers dim,

Hold the lamp, strong from within.

Share the love that lies beneath.

Breathing softly, list’ning near,

Seek a shadow’s sound to hear,

Travel closely without need

And reach your heart to those who bleed.

Take the peace you strive to grow

And build a wind with which to blow - All the love that lies beneath,

All the love that lies beneath,

All the love that lies beneath.

THE PULL

(In progress)

Solo piano, electro-acoustic, multi-media

60 minutes

THE PULL - "The seed of this project is human longing. That pull from without rather than the push from within. This can take on many different forms on many different levels both conscious and subconscious. THE PULL is that image or smell or sound or person or place or reactive sensation that draws a yearning or a pining from us. From a baby seeing a parent and being completely overtaken by the desire to be held by them, to a person longing for their place of childhood through the pathway of memories. From the satisfaction of simply being near someone and the pining for that when apart. Endless possibilities and personal interpretations exist of THE PULL. It's a core feeling (or feelings) which can be at the same time warmly comfortable and deeply unsettling."

THE PULL is a full-length show for solo pianist which features electro-acoustic elements, spoken word, extended techniques, lighting & staging. A larger work comprised of smaller segments, Edward has commissioned writer/poet/pianist Mado Christie to write poems on the theme - texts which will be incorporated into the show and "set" to solo piano.

Poems from Mado Christie:

"I would like to know you"

"Stepping"

"lean"

"We are trying again"

Bloom

(2019)

SAB choir | Original text | 6 minutes

Commissioned by the Annapolis Valley Honour Choirs for their 30th anniversary season and premiered on May 25th, 2019 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Bloom

Edward Enman | 2019

With our minds and with our might,

Moving onward past the night,

We will bloom.

Staying steady, keeping full,

Always sure to stretch and pull,

We will bloom.

Leading from the light within

Toward the fire, noise, and din,

We will bloom.

Bringing that which we hold dear

All through the dark, against the fear,

We will bloom.

Each of us, alone, will be

A force to fill all those who see,

And as the hope within us grows,

Our voice will sound what our heart shows.

Believe our words which float above

With all our strength and all our love,

We will bloom.

Ballades

for solo piano

(In progress)

A set of five Ballades for solo piano, these are programmatic instrumental works inspired by, and structured on, original poems by Canadian poets, written for the immersive show THE PULL for solo piano and multimedia. As character pieces, each Ballade presents its own individual character and musical construction with certain thematic and rhythmic elements uniting each piece into the larger group.

To be work-shopped in 2020 with the premiere tour to take place in 2021.

Coastline

(2019)

Treble choir with piano | 6 minutes

The Coastline Medley is an arrangement of Nova Scotian folk-songs which was commissioned by the Coastline Singers for their 10th Anniversary Season. The collection of traditional tunes features "The Chezzetcook Song", "I Will Give My Love An Apple", and "Farewell to Nova Scotia", all which originated on the south shore of Nova Scotia.

To be premiered by the Coastline Singers in the fall of 2020 in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Shavasana Pieces

Savasana Pieces

(2018)

Two 5 minute works for recorded piano and electronics for the traditional Savasana at the finale of a yoga session.

Too solemn for day, too sweet fr night

Too solemn for day, too sweet for night

(2018)

SATB choir | 5 minutes

This piece is for mixed-voice choir and is a setting of the brief, yet stunning poem by William Sydney Walker (1795-1846):

"TOO solemn for day, too sweet for night,

Come not in darkness, come not in light;

But come in some twilight interim,

When the gloom is soft, and the light is dim."

Blondin

(2017)

SATB choir | 5 minutes

A setting of Walter de la Mare's text of the same title on the subject of Jean François Gravelet (1824-1897), better known as Charles Blondin, who was a French tightrope walker and acrobat whose tightrope walks across Niagara Falls made him famous particularly in North America.

Blondin

Walter de la Mare (1873-1956)

WITH clinging dainty catlike tread,
His pole in balance, hand to hand,
And, softly smiling, into space
He ventures on that threadlike strand.

Above him is the enormous sky,
Beneath, a frenzied torrent roars,
Surging where massed Niagara
Its snow-formed arc of water pours:

But he, with eye serene as his
Who sits in daydream by the fire,
His every sinew, bone and nerve
Obedient to his least desire,

Treads softly on, with light-drawn breath,
Each inch-long toe, precisely pat,
In inward trust, past wit to probe
This death-defying acrobat!...

Like some Old Saint on his old rope-bridged,
Between another world and this,
Dead-calm 'mid inward vortices,
Where little else but danger is.

NKOSI

In the Train

(2017)

TTBB choir with piano | 6 minutes

A setting for treble choir of James Thompson's "In the Train". The rhythmically flowing and driving piano part allows the voices to soar above in this increasingly exciting 5 minutes.

Arrangements by the composer also for SATB choir with piano and SSAA choir with piano.

In the Train

James Thomson (1834-1882)

As we rush, as we rush in the Train,

The trees and the houses go wheeling back,

But the starry heavens above the plain

Come flying on our track.

All the beautiful stars of the sky,

The silver doves of the forest of Night,

Over the dull earth swarm and fly,

Companions of our flight.

We will rush ever on without fear;

Let the goal be far, the flight be fleet!

For we carry the Heavens with us, dear,

While the earth slips from our feet!

White in the moon the long road lies

(2017)

SATB choir | 5 minutes

A setting of the text of the same name in part XXXVI of A.E. Housman's "A Shropshire Lad".

White in the Moon (1896)

A.E. Housman (1859-1936)

White in the moon the long road lies,

The moon stands blank above;

White in the moon the long road lies

That leads me from my love.

Still hangs the hedge without a gust,

Still, still the shadows stay:

My feet upon the moonlit dust

Pursue the ceaseless way.

The world is round, so travellers tell,

And straight though reach the track,

Trudge on, trudge on, 'twill all be well,

The way will guide one back.

But ere the circle homeward hies

Far, far must it remove:

White in the moon the long road lies

That leads me from my love.

The Arrow of Time

(2015)

Solo piano | 14 minutes

Continuous form with three subsections:

(The Arrow of Time)(Time and Space)(The Arrow of Time II)

Premiered by Everett Hopfner at the Canadian Music Centre, Toronto on January 25th, 2016.

"This piece is a musical reflection of the period of inspired thought, which I experienced after delving into the writings of Dr. Stephen Hawking. Particularly, those of Hawking’s theories and descriptions regarding Time-Space and the Arrows of Time (of which Hawking delineates three types). Ideas involving time as a dimension, and our one-directional experience in it from past to future, were especially inspiring to the creative thought in this piece.

In three distinct but connected sections, this work is a continuous unravelling of musical ideas –ideas that are always aware of the passing of time and our conception of it. I encourage the listener to experience time as it shifts identities throughout the piece – in one moment ticking along, while in the next seemingly stretching and slowing down to an unusually slow state. This work was created on a base of inspired thought and I hope that it will in turn inspire creative and emboldened thoughts in the listener."

-Taken from the program notes for the premiere.

Wandrers Nachtlied

(2015)

SATB choir

A setting of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Wandrers Nachtlied I. (German)

Wandrers Nachtlied I (1776)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Der du von dem Himmel bist,

Alles Leid und Schmerzen stillest,

Den, der doppelt elend ist,

Doppelt mit Erquickung füllest,

Ach, ich bin des Treibens müde!

Was soll all der Schmerz und Lust?

Süßer Friede,

Komm, ach komm in meine Brust.

Wanderer's Night Song (1776)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

English Translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Thou that from the heavens art,

Every pain and sorrow stillest,

And the doubly wretched heart

Doubly with refreshment fillest,

I am weary with contending!

Why this pain and desire?

Peace descending

Come, ah come into my breast!

My Name is Olemaun Pokiak

(2015)

SSSAAA choir | 8 minutes

The Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble has commissioned Edward Enman to write for a revisited presentation of Fatty Legs - a show which tells the story of Olemaun Pokiak leaving her home in the High Arctic to attend a residential school in Aklavik in Canada's North.

Premiered by Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble on a tour of Canada's East Coast in 2015 with tours of Ontario in 2017 and 2018. More information about Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble can be found here.

So, good night, with lullaby

(2015)

SATB choir

A setting of text from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596)

(Act 2, Scene 2)

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

The Fairies Sing

You spotted snakes with double tongue,

Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;

Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,

Come not near our fairy queen.

Philomel, with melody,

Sing in our sweet lullaby;

Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby: