Resounding Verse - Pod.casts

You're the One: Rhiannon Giddens

September 01, 2023 17:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MB

The title track from Rhiannon Giddens's recent album You're the One—which was just released by Nonesuch Records—is a love song, but not one about two adults; it's about a moment Giddens experienced with her newborn son, pressing her cheek against his and realizing that her world would never be the same again. In this episode I reference a book by Matt BaileyShea called Lines and Lyrics: An Introduction to Poetry and Song. If you're interested in learning more about how words and music relat...

Songe (Dream): Maurice Bouchor and Mel Bonis

August 01, 2023 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MB

Have you ever felt as though a single moment—gazing into someone's eyes, listening to a passage of music, looking at a landscape—transports you to another realm? Maurice Bouchor's poem is about just this kind of experience, an experience that the French composer Mel Bonis transforms into a magical sound world that deftly blends Romanticism and Impressionism. The episode features a recording of the song by Hélène Guilmette and Matin Dubé, from an album called L'Heure Rose. For more informa...

In Fountain Court: Arthur Symons and Elizabeth Maconchy

July 01, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MB

Arthur Symons's poem captures a lazy June afternoon, with a fountain burbling and the moon hanging in the sky, waiting for the coming of night. Elizabeth Maconchy transforms the poem into a song of mesmerizing stillness and beauty. The episode features a world-premiere recording by soprano Joanna Songi and pianist Matthew Fletcher, based on an unpublished manuscript found in the Maconchy archive at St. Hilda's College, Oxford. You can find a YouTube video of their performance here. For an ...

Resevwa Li (Receive Them): A Haitian Hymn Reimagined by Nathalie Joachim

February 01, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MB

The Haitian-American composer Nathalie Joachim transforms a Haitian hymn, and in so doing creates a multi-layered tapestry of sound that evokes the many voices of Haiti—past, present, and future. "Resevwa Li" comes from Joachim's Grammy-nominated 2019 album Fanm d'Ayiti (New Amsterdam Records), featuring the Spektral Quartet. Resevwa Li Men n’ap proche devan ou Granmèt Avèk tout ti kado n yo papa Li mèt tout piti kou li ye, Tanpri resevwa li Adye papa souple Kisa pou m ta ba ou Ou ki fè ...

One by One: Connie Converse

January 01, 2023 05:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MB

Connie Converse was one of the first singer-songwriters, an uncommon talent who predated Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. But she was barely known in her day, and after making a handful of low-fi recordings in the 1950s, she disappeared in 1974. Her songs weren't widely known until some of those low-fi recordings were released on CD in 2009. This episode looks at one of her most affecting songs, which appears on Walking in the Dark, a recent album by soprano Julia Bullock, in an arrangement by Jerem...

Letzter Wunsch (Last Wish): Julius Sturm and Marie von Kehler

December 15, 2022 17:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MB

We know very little about the German composer Marie von Kehler (1822–1882), who served as a "lady in waiting" to a princess and seems to have been acquainted with Johannes Brahms. But we do know that she wrote over eighty songs that were published over a decade after her death—none of which had ever been recorded until Stephan Loges and Jocelyn Freeman recorded four of them for my website Art Song Augmented. This episode looks at one of the best Kehler song's, a setting of a poem by Julius S...

Firmament: Carolyn Forché and Caroline Shaw

November 01, 2022 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MB

Carolyn Forché's 46-page poem "On Earth" forms the basis for a song cycle called The Blue Hour, which was composed by five women—Caroline Shaw, Shara Nova, Rachel Grimes, Angelica Negrón, and Sarah Kirkland Snider—and just released on CD this month by Nonesuch and New Amsterdam Records. This episode looks at one of Caroline Shaw's contributions to the cycle, a song that embraces Bach and plainchant and, in just over three minutes, captures the immensity of time and the cosmos. The episod...

Nous nous aimerons tant (We Will Love Each Other So Much): Francis Jammes and Lili Boulanger

October 01, 2022 04:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MB

Francis Jammes's poem depicts two lovers who sit on a bench, alone together under the shade of overhanging branches. But it's not clear if the scene is real or imaginary. In her setting of the text, Lili Boulanger heightens the poem's sense of mystery—and also the poetic speaker's anxiety that the blissful moment may only be a figment of his imagination. You can find the score to Boulanger's song here. The episode features the a recording of the song by tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra...

Afterglow: Thomas Walsh and Mary Turner Salter

September 01, 2022 06:00 - 21 minutes - 14.5 MB

Thomas Walsh's poem and Mary Turner Salter's setting of it capture the moment between day and night—and the desire to linger in that moment as long as possible. The episode features the first-ever recording of Mary Turner Salter's "Afterglow," performed by soprano Camille Ortiz and pianist Gustavo Castro and engineered by Joseph Wenda. I commissioned the recording for Art Song Augmented, my website devoted to art songs by underrepresented composers. Learn more about Salter's songs, access h...

The River: Nathaniel Bellows and Sarah Kirkland Snider

November 01, 2021 07:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MB

Nathaniel Bellows’ poem and Sarah Kirkland Snider's haunting setting of it—from her song cycle Unremembered—revisit the site of a childhood trauma and meditate on innocence and the mechanisms of memory. The performance of the song features vocalists Padma Newsome, DM Stith, and Shara Worden, and the Unremembered Orchestra (members of ACME, Alarm Will Sound, ICE, The Knights, and Sō Percussion), conducted by Edwin Outwater. In the episode I discuss Nathaniel Bellows' illustration that ac...

Room in Brooklyn/A Gradual Dazzle: Anne Carson and Caroline Shaw

October 01, 2021 07:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MB

Anne Carson's poem and Caroline Shaw's mesmerizing setting of it meditate on the feeling of being in and out of time. The recording of the song, which appears on the album Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part (Nonesuch, 2021), features Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion (Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting).

Sag, wo ist dein schönes Liebchen: Heinrich Heine and Rodrigo Ruiz

September 01, 2021 07:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

The 21st-century Mexican composer Rodrigo Ruiz sets a text by the 19th-century German writer Heinrich Heine. In so doing, Ruiz channels 19th-century musical style and offers a deeply moving interpretation of a poem about the loss of love and the death of an artistic tradition that Heine once held dear. The performance of the song features soprano Grace Davidson and pianist Christopher Glynn. The song appears on the CD An Everlasting Dawn. Check out Ruiz's recent CD of chamber works, Behol...

Sag, wo ist dein schönes Liebchen (Tell Me, Where is Your Beautiful Sweetheart): Heinrich Heine and Rodrigo Ruiz

September 01, 2021 07:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

The 21st-century Mexican composer Rodrigo Ruiz sets a text by the 19th-century German writer Heinrich Heine. In so doing, Ruiz channels 19th-century musical style and offers a deeply moving interpretation of a poem about the loss of love and the death of an artistic tradition that Heine once held dear. The performance of the song features soprano Grace Davidson and pianist Christopher Glynn. The song appears on the CD An Everlasting Dawn. Check out Ruiz's recent CD of chamber works, Behol...

Strawberry Man: Kendra Preston Leonard and Lisa Neher

August 01, 2021 18:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MB

Kendra Preston Leonard's poem and Lisa Neher's song—about a man who sells fresh fruit on a summer day—celebrate something sumptuous where we would least expect it. The performance of the song is by Arwen Myers, who is also featured in a previous episode about a song by Florence Price. Be sure to check out other collaborations by Kendra Preston Leonard and Lisa Neher, especially the works in their micro-opera festival. Strawberry Man by Kendra Preston Leonard The Strawberry Man and his ...

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: Robert Frost and Margaret Bonds

July 01, 2021 07:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MB

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is one of the most famous poems in the English language, and it has been set to music by many composers. This episode explores an extraordinarily inventive setting by the Black American composer Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), recently recorded by bass-baritone Justin Hopkins and pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers. This recording comes from a playlist created by Hopkins and Cilliers, which includes performances of music by Florence Price and Ma...

To My Little Son: Julia Johnson Davis and Florence Price

June 15, 2021 21:00 - 22 minutes - 15.2 MB

In Julia Johnson Davis's poem "To My Little Son," a mother imagines what her baby boy will look like when he's twenty-one years old, and wonders whether, when he's grown up, she'll see glimmers of the boy in the man. Thinking of her own son, Florence Price turned to Davis's poem and created a song that is nuanced, affecting, and deeply personal. The recording of “To My Little Son” is by soprano Arwen Myers and pianist Monica Ohuchi. Learn more about Price's songs, access scores, and hear...

Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou and Farayi Malek

June 01, 2021 13:00 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MB

Maya Angelou's poem "Phenomenal Woman" tells women that they don't have to conform to conventional ideas of femininity. Farayi Malek uses her voice to amplify Angelou's, and to lift up the voices of other women who at times struggle to feel comfortable in their own skin—and who deserve to feel phenomenal just as they are. The recording of "Phenomenal Woman" features the following musicians: Farayi Malek, voice Jason Yeager, piano Margaux Vranken, organ Aaron Holthus, bass Jas Kayser, drums...

Scheideblick (Parting Glance): Nikolaus Lenau and Josephine Lang

June 01, 2021 13:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MB

In Nikolaus Lenau's poem "Scheideblick" (Parting Glance) a man leaves his beloved and, as he departs, imagines sinking his happiness into the ocean. Josephine's Lang's setting of the poem evokes the ebb and flow of the sea, and also the ebb and flow of the emotions associated with it. For more on Josephine Lang, see Harald and Sharon Krebs's book Josephine Lang: Her Life and Songs. The recording of “Scheideblick” is by mezzo-soprano Milagro Vargas and pianist Susan Manoff. Learn more ab...

Branch by Branch: Edna St. Vincent Millay and H. Leslie Adams

June 01, 2021 13:00 - 23 minutes - 16.2 MB

The protagonist in Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem looks upon a tree that has died and wonders what caused it to wither. She stands apart from the scene, awed and perplexed, but at a crucial moment enters the scene and takes a decisive action. In H. Leslie Adams's song, that action seems even more decisive—and even more brutal. The recording of "Branch by Branch" is by Darryl Taylor and Robin Guy, and comes from a CD called Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams. Branch by Branch by Edna S...

Welcome to Resounding Verse

May 15, 2021 20:00 - 3 minutes - 2.43 MB

Announcing a new podcast about poetry and song. Join music theorist Stephen Rodgers as he explores how composers transform words into songs. Each episode discusses one poem and one musical setting of it. The music is diverse—covering a variety of styles and time periods, and focusing on composers from underrepresented groups—and the tone is accessible and personal. If you love poetry and song, no matter your background and expertise, this show is for you. Episodes are 20-30 minutes long and ...