Kay Gardner (composer)

Kay Gardner (also known as "Cosmos Wonder-Child") (1941-2002) was a musician, composer, author, and musical producer involved in using music for creative and healing purposes. Her compositions include works for chamber orchestra, symphony orchestra, choir, flute, voice and piano. She was very active in promoting the work of contemporary female musicians and composers.

Biography

Born in Freeport, New York, Gardner wrote and performed her first piano composition at the age of four. She subsequently went on to gain performance experience in chamber, orchestral, and vocal music. Gardner is considered a founder of the women's recording industry, and founded her own independent record label, Ladyslipper Records. She produced 17 albums, both of her own music and of others'. Gardner composed works for piano, orchestra, and choir.

elected Works

Music

Chamber Works (published by Sea Gnomes Music)
*"Romance"
*"Touching Souls"
*"Crystal Bells"
*"Lunamuse"
*"Prayer to Aphrodite"
*"Atlantis Rising"
*"The Rising Sun: Variations on an American Blues Theme"
*"The Seasons"
*"Winter Night, Gibbous Moon: Saga for Eleven Flutes"
*"Vocalise" (on Bach's Prelude in C-minor)
*"Earth Shadows for Bassoon & Chamber Ensemble"
*"Viriditas"
*"North Coast Nights"
*"Rondo"
*"Sailing Song"
*"Women at the Lakeside"
*"A Rainbow Path"

Orchestral Works

*"Lament for the Thousands"
*"Century March"
*"Rainforest" (for chamber orchestra; recorded by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Leonarda Records)
*"The Rising Sun: Variations on an American Blues Theme"
*"Night Chant"
*"Prayer to Aphrodite"
*"The Greenwood"
*"Quiet Harbor"

Oratorio and Opera
* (text: Charlie Hutchins and Ila Suzanne
*"Ladies' Voices: A Short, Short Opera" (text: Gertrude Stein)

Choral Works(Mixed Chorus)
*"Aquarian Anthem" (text: Kay Gardner)
*"Time is But the Stream..."(text: Henry David Thoreau)
*"Stopping By Woods" (text: Robert Frost)
*"Beloved Presence" (text: Mohammed Hafiz)
*"Three Sumerian Hymns" (for chorus & large ensemble)
*"Affirmation: A Benediction (text: The Upanishads)
*"Mary Had a Baby" (Traditional Spiritual)
*"The Banshee Song" (text: Kay Gardner)
*"Lucina's Light: A Yuletide Pageant/Cantata" (Women's Chorus)
*"When We Made the Music" (text: Kay Gardner)
*"The Rootwomen" (text: J. Goldspinner)
*"A Creed for Free Women" (text: Elsa Gidlow)
*"Dancing" (text: Susan Griffin)
*"Song of the Dying Amazon" (text: Shirley Tannenbaum)
*"The Spider and the Fly" (text: Mary Howitt)
*"Charge of the Star Goddess" (text: Traditional)

Solo Instrumental Works
*"A River Sings" (for solo cello)
*"The Elusive White Roebuck" (for horn & piano)
*"Moonflow" (on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata; for flute & piano)
*"Innermoods" (for flute & guitar)
*"Seven Modal Improvisations" (piano with any instrument/s)
*"Mariachi" (for marimba)
*"Travelin' " (for guitar)
*"Thou Little Tiny Child"(piano arrangement of The Coventry Carol)

Solo Vocal Works
*"Mother's Evening Prayer" (text:Mary Baker Eddy)
*"On Marriage" (text: Kahlil Gibran)
*"Fragments" (text: Hsin Ping)
*"Mindful of You" (text: Edna St. Vincent Millay)
*"Three Mother Songs"
*"Two Sapphic Songs" (text: Elsa Gidlow)
*"Wise Woman"
*"Beautiful Friend"
*"Changing"

Lectures and Literature
*"Music as Medicine: The Art & Science of Healing With Sound" (9-hour lecture series on tape; Sounds True)
*"Sounding the Inner Landscape: Music as Medicine" (1990)

ources

*"" cd booklet (Ladyslipper Records, 1994)
*Kay Gardner's website (http://www.kaygardner.com)

Links

* [http://www.kaygardner.com Kay Gardner's Webpage]
* [http://www.ladyslipper.org Ladyslipper Records]
* [http://www.kaygardner.com/obituary.html Bangor Daily News Obituary]