scored for soprano and piano

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duration 9 minutes 

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Songs of Lightness and Laughter begins from a playful, light-hearted attitude toward life. Instead of heaviness or grand explanations, it places wonder, humor, and an almost childlike sense of freedom at its core. Lightness is not a synonym for superficiality, but a conscious choice: to momentarily let go of sometimes suffocating seriousness and make room for pleasure, to breathe again.

 

In Lightly Child, Lightly, Aldous Huxley urges us not to burden life with gravity, poses, or profound explanations, but to walk through it without luggage, without big words. This lightness does not exclude depth; it makes it bearable. Feeling may be intense, as long as it does not harden or become rigid.

 

In …a path to Paradise… a quote from Jack Kerouac's book Big Sur, this attitude takes on a vital, almost exuberant dimension. Life is a passage, a way, not a problem to be solved. Why not choose pleasure, desire, love and above all, laughter?

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Lightly child, lightly

...a path to Paradise...

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Songs of Lightness and Laughter is dedicated to Laurence Servaes and Eric Whitacre.