Songs
Puer Natus Est Nobis (2017) for tenor and organ. Patrick Connelly, tenor; Diane Marazzi, organ
The Ballad of Longwood Glen (1975) for tenor and harp. Poem by Vladimir Nabokov Paul Sperry, tenor; Nancy Allen, harp
A Theory (1980) for soprano and vibraphone. Poem by Musa McKim (Guston)
Three Painters (Marc Chagall; Grandma Moses; Jackson Pollack) (1984) for voice and piano. Poems by Phyllis McGinley Paul Sperry, tenor; Irma Vallecillo, piano
Three Painters video with all three songs, Patrick Morris, baritone; Richard Wilson, piano
Tribulations video (1988) for soprano and piano. (Careless Talk; As Into the Garden Elizabeth Ran; Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog; Henry King; The Purist.) Poems by Mark Hollis, A.E. Houseman, Judith Viorst, Hilaire Belloc, and Ogden Nash. Mary Ann Hart, soprano; Richard Wilson, piano
Persuasions (1990) for soprano, flute, oboe, bassoon and harpsichord. Poems by Thomas Carew. Amy Burton, soprano; Blanca Uribe, harpsichord; John Solum, alto flute; Marc Schachman, oboe and English horn;Gilbert Dejean, bassoon and contrabassoon.
The Second Law (1991) for baritone and piano. Poem by Stephen Sandy. Richard Wilson's setting of Stephen Sandy's poem "The Second Law" was composed at the request of Will Parker, who gave its first performance with Alan Marks, piano, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, on June 4, 1992, in a program entitled AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK—1992. It is performed in this recording by Tony Holt, baritone, and John Jensen, piano.
On the Street (1992) for baritone and piano. Poem by Stephen Sandy. Patrick Morris, baritone; Richard Wilson, piano. Sample Pages
Five Love Songs (1995) for high voice and piano. (Youtube is of four of the songs orchestrated) (Mistress Anne; Go, Piteous Heart; Merry Margaret; How Shall I Report?; Mannerly Margery) Poems by John Skelton.
Pamietam (I remember) (1995) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. (Foundations; The Bridge; Three Towns; Beyond Time) Poems by Leopold Staff and Mieczyslaw Jastrun—translated by Czeslaw Milosz. Mary Ann Hart, mezzo-soprano; Leon Botstein, conductor American Symphony Chamber Orchestra
Lights on the River (1996) for high voice and piano. Poem by Katherine Anne Porter. Lucy Shelton, soprano; Richard Wilson, piano.
Transfigured Goat (1996) Texts adapted from Joe Orton. Mary Ann Hart mezzo-sopran; Richard Lalli, baritone; Allen Blustine, clarinet; Richard Wilson, piano
Three Songs on Poems by John Ashbery (2000) for baritone and piano. (This Room; The History of My Life; Otherwise.)
Four Love Songs (2004) for soprano and orchestra (Mistress Ann; Go, Piteous Heart; Merry Margaret; How Shall I Report?) Poems by John Skelton.
Visits to St. Elizabeths (2005). Poem by Elizabeth Bishop. Mary Nessinger, soprano; Richard Wilson, piano.
I Walked Through the Medieval Town (2006) for voice and piano. Poem by Adam Zagajewski.
Three Songs on Poems by Paul Kane (2006) for mezzo-soprano and marimba. (Prelude; Intimations; Under the Summer Canopy.
Chamisa Mizmorey Tehilim (2006) for soprano, baritone and orchestra.
The Cello Has Many Secrets (2008) for mezzo-soprano, solo cello, and orchestra. Poems (“To...,” “The Self”, “Cello”) by Adam Zagajewski.
Four Songs on Poems by John Updike (2009) for voice and piano. (A Vision; In Extremis; Les Saints Nouveaux; Recital.)
Two Songs on Poems by Eamon Grennan (2010) (Couple; Swifts Over Dublin) for soprano, violin and piano. Sample Pages
With Lullay, Lullay, Like a Child (2012) for baritone and piano. Poem by John Skelton.
Psalm 42 (2013) for solo tenor. Text in Gallic. Patrick Connolly, tenor
Psalm 42 (2013) for solo tenor. Text in Gallic. Eric S. Brenner, counter-tenor
Miss Foggerty’s Cake (2013) for solo tenor. Eric S. Brenner, counter-tenor
Limericks (2014) for two sopranos. Text by Edward Lear. Susan Botti, soprano; Courtenay Budd, soprano
On the Death of Juan Gelman (2015) for voice and piano. Poem by Lucy Miller Murray.
On the Death of Juan Gelman (2015) for voice, clarinet and piano. Poem by Lucy Miller Murray. Courtenay Budd, soprano; Moran Katz, clarinet: Richard Wilson, piano
Three Songs for Friends (2016) for voice and piano.Courtenay Budd, soprano; Richard Wilson, piano
The Science of Musical Sounds (for George Labalme, music lover) Text by Samuel Johnson
Diplomacy (for Edward Streator, career diplomat) Text is anonymous.
A Vision of Judgment (for Bernard Holland, music critic) Text by Lord Byron.
Come, My Celia (2017) for mezzo-soprano and piano. Poem by Ben Johnson
Obviously Quite Easy (2017) for soprano and bassoon. Text by Oscar Wilde.
Fugue (2018) for voice and piano. Poem by Phillis Levin.
Talk, Walking, Drifting (2018) for voice and piano. Poems by Sarah Plimpton.
Miss Foggerty’s Cake (2018) version for soprano and violin.
Katya’s Great Romance (2018) for voice, narrator, cello and piano. Poem by Michael Salcman.
Words and Music: An Argument (2018) for soprano, baritone, two clarinets and piano. Poem by Lucy Miller Murray.
Wait Until Dusk (2018) for tenor and piano. Poem by Joseph-Francis Meltzer.
My Antique Phrases(2019) for mezzo-soprano and piano. Poem by Lucy Miller Murray.
The Big Fish Story (2019) for soprano and piano. Poem by Mary Stewart Hammond.
Economics (2019) for soprano alone. Poem by Victoria Redel.
My Antique Phrases (2020) for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano. Poem by Lucy Miller Murray
In the Old School Yard (2020) for mezzo-soprano and piano. Poem by Carol Goodman.
Market Women: Lake Toba(2021) for voice and piano. Poem by Karen Swenson.