Category: Vocal Music / Art Song / Song Cycle
Instrumentation: voice, guitar
Duration: 17–20 minutes
Difficulty: Varies by song
Publisher: Columbia Music

Volume One: Three From Sara — words by Sara Teasdale
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Inn of Earth
February Twilight

Volume Two: Two Remembrances — words by Susan Laura Lugo
Gone With the Wind
August

Volume Three: Willa — words by Willa Cather
The Tavern
The Hawthorn Tree
L’envoi
Spanish Johnny

From the Heart: Three American Women is a cycle of nine songs in three mini-volumes, organized by poet. Setting texts by Sara Teasdale, Susan Laura Lugo, and Willa Cather, the cycle explores protest, remembrance, love, solitude, heat, longing, and dramatic narrative through Baxter’s lyrical vocal writing and expressive guitar textures.

The work has received scholarly attention as the topic of a doctoral dissertation by Evelyn Fair at Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in 2006. Across its three volumes, From the Heart reflects Baxter’s sensitivity to poetry, tonal clarity, and gift for creating distinctive musical worlds within a unified song cycle.

The cycle may be performed complete or by individual mini-volume. Its varied difficulty levels and contrasting moods make it well suited for vocal recitals, American art song programs, and concerts centered on women poets, memory, love, and social reflection.