ABSTRACT
Louise Talma's earliest extant song is dated "New York, 1925" and therefore is one of the few conceived during the period when she was studying composition in New York City with Harold Brockway and Percy Goetschius at the Institute of Musical Art. Talma's early songs take their texts from a variety of sources, but she seems to have preferred American and British poetry. "Song in the Songless," with a text by Meredith, is melancholy and conveys a sense of mourning, as do the three previous songs. As in "Invocation," "Surface," and "Storm," Talma frequently used the minor second and tritone both melodically and harmonically in "Song" to represent sadness or mourning. As with Talma's earlier work, the interval of the second appears to represent pain or longing, emotional conditions that not even the joy that comes from expressing her love can soothe.
