It is at moments after i have dreamed was written for Peter Rutenberg’s superb Los Angeles Chamber Singers. The text is the tenth of a collection of poems by E. E. Cummings called “Sonnets–Unrealities.” The text was brought to my attention by a graduate student at UCLA who thought it might inspire me.Just about that time I was hunting for a suitable text for Peter Rutenberg, who had asked me to compose a new piece for the Los Angeles Chamber Singers.I was drawn instantly to this hauntingly beautiful poem and, once having started, finished the piece within a matter of days.I was struck by the stark reality that great poems such as this never need music; rather, it is we, the composers, who need the poem to give voice to musical sounds and expressions that would not otherwise see the light of day.That said the composer may (and I did!) indulge the text in ways that cannot otherwise be accomplished.The sopranos begin by singing, literally, “it is at moments after I have dreamed –it is at moments, moments, moments, of the rare entertainment of your eyes.”The structural ‘bubble’ created by fragmenting and repeating individual words –or not –enables the composer to control the metabolism of the text; at times lingering at times racing.I particularly enjoy this aspect of text setting, and hope that it creates a somewhat spontaneous, improvisatory impression.