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A Note from the Artistic Director
It has always been of interest to me how composers approach a text and set it to music, having done some of it myself. Assuming it is desirable to make the music match the text, there are several established techniques that are available; and myriad ways within those techniques to creatively accomplish the task.
For instance, should a composer merely match the general mood or feel of the text in the music? Or can he or she be even more specific, matching the contour of a melody to the meaning of the words? And what of shifts in mood or meaning? And most fascinating of all, is it possible for differing interpretations of a text to be revealed in the way two individuals choose to set a text?
In "The Composer's Choice," 10 of St. Martin's singers present 4 pairs of songs (i.e., 8 pieces), singing them side-by-side, and asking for audience reflections and observations both before and afterwards, in an attempt to reveal some of these issues to our consciousness.
For instance, taking the Shakespearean text "Full Fathom Five" (from The Tempest), and seeing how Romantic era English composer Charles Wood sets it, compared to living American composer Robert Baksa, is to reveal that the two interpret the text very differently. William Blake's poem "The Lamb," George Herbert's "Sweet Day, So Cool," and the sacred text
"O sacrum convivium" are the other texts, with composers as varied as the Italian Baroque composer Giuseppi Antonio Bernabei and contemporary French composer Olivier Messiaen. John Tavener, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Hubert Parry round out the list of composers examined in this unique and stimulating new concert concept.
Timothy J. Krueger
November, 2008
© 2008 Timothy J. Krueger |