Category: Vocal Music / Art Song
Instrumentation: voice, piano
Duration: 2 minutes 45 seconds
Text / Source: Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Publisher: North Star Music

Lament is an intermediate-level art song for voice and piano, dedicated to Katherine Keem. Setting a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, the song presents a tragic expression of loss.

The music gives the poem’s grief a focused and direct emotional shape, using lyrical vocal writing and sensitive piano support to sustain its elegiac character. Baxter’s tonal clarity allows the sorrow of the text to remain central, while contemporary harmonic color adds depth and shadow.

Lament is appropriate for vocal recitals, student performances, and contemporary art song programs dealing with grief, remembrance, and emotional resilience. It asks for controlled expression, clear diction, and a singer-pianist partnership capable of sustaining quiet intensity.