I Do Want More

for soprano, flute, cello, piano, and narrator

(This is the instrumentation in the opera)
text by Steve Rouse and Joy Stephens
from The Mousewife, a chamber opera for young audiences

(1995) Duration: 3:00

PURCHASE

Recording by Edith Davis Tidwell (soprano), Kathy Karr (flute), Eva Morris Rouse (cello), Thomas Hoppe (piano), and Steve Rouse (narrator and conductor)

I Do Want More is the first aria from The Mousewife, a chamber opera for children, based on a story by Rumer Godden and adapted by Steve Rouse and Joy Stephens, with original lyrics by Steve Rouse and Joy Stephens.

It's true. I do want more.

I want children, lovely children.

I want crumbs that cover the floor.

I want quiet nights with only a small light here by my door.
I do want more.

I want spaces... wide, wide places

Where we can always scamper and play.

And I want Miss Wilkinson's broom taken away!
I want laughter and friends,
Play with no end,

And all of the fun I can find.
I want soft and warm,
Safe... no harm,
And all of the quiet that I can.
I want memories

Of everything right

And everything sweet,
Everything calm in the night.
And when everything's quiet,
Sometimes it seems,

That what I want most,

What I really must need....
It seems... I want dreams?

Yes, I think... that it seems...

That what I want most are my dreams.