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George Crumb: Beulah Land
Folk songs written by West Virginians born in the 1920s. Progressive, utopian even, they are visions of an American future. George Crumb, pioneer of sound and music, has become a prolific setter of American folk songs in the last few decades. From the songs he has set and the industrial-mystical hollow and full soundscapes he creates around them, it seems that Appalachia, and his home state of West Virginia specifically are on his mind.
Hazel Dickens: Black Lung
One of the things I love about the Highlander Center, perched on a hill in eastern Tennessee overlooking the Smokey Mountains, is that it points to the history and continuing possibility of cultural appreciation and political alignment between rural and urban working class communities.
We Shall Overcome
So, how do we get from the austere and atonal grandeur of Ruth Crawford’s lament “Sacco and Vanzetti,” to the uplifting hymn tune and civil rights anthem of “We Shall Overcome.” First, shout-out to composer Nate May for making the connection. In 1932 Ruth Crawford married fellow composer, musicologist, and political lefty Charles Seeger Jr, father of then thirteen-year-old Pete Seeger.
Ruth Crawford: Sacco and Vanzetti
The process of making music with Steve Blier and NYFOS is always an exploration that demands equal parts intellectual and emotional integrity. I’ve been back in the studio with Steve this month as we gear up for the upcoming Protest concert at Merkin Hall, bridging the gap, or finding a union between, my activist and musical impulses. Inspired by that work, I’m going to take this week of posts to trace a line through progressive American song writing of the 20th century
Verdi: Solenne in quest’ora
But then, in a single clarifying moment, the course of my life would be forever changed. I was playing a video game on my computer, and decided to put on a CD that a friend let me borrow. I was just half listening to it in the background… and then, my operatic innocence was shattered by the most powerful high C I’d heard in my young naive life. Franco Corelli, at the end of Di quella pira. I sat there in kind of a shocked stunned silence…and then listened to it several more times.
Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast
But, before I jump into the music, I want give a bit of background on how I came to have such strange musical tastes. I grew up in a very conservative part of central Pennsylvania. We lived in a small farmhouse with Amish next door neighbors and no cable… heck, the internet didn’t even exist yet. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and life was safe and predictable. I remember listening to my parents’ records which were mostly religious music, some classical, and oldies.
Lil’ Dicky: Pillow Talking
Before we jump into it, I just want to say that there is SO much good and important hip-hop being made right now and I’m barely going to scratch the surface (and suffer from an abundance of whiteness), so go find someone with a much better perspective than I, and listen to as much as you can. That said, since I’ve set this blog up as “what do I have on my phone”… what am I listening to at the moment?
Andy Hull and Robert McDowell: Montage
The impact that music has on a movie cannot be overstated. It literally becomes an invisible omnipresent character that manipulates us, both with its presence and its absence…No discussion on the topic would be complete without mentioning one of the greatest composers ever to write for film; Erich Korngold. I’m currently traveling with both his Adventures of Robin Hood score, and his incidental music for Much Ado About Nothing. His music is transfixingly beautiful, and should not be missed. But, again, no voices… my search continues.
The Punch Brothers: You Are
…Once I set myself this somewhat arbitrary but completely necessary boundary, I immediately knew what I wanted to share on the first day… something from the bluegrass genre by Chris Thile. Mr Thile is an extraordinary mandolin player, in addition to a singer, composer, and now host of the Public Radio program Live From Here (formerly titled A Prairie Home Companion).
George Gershwin: My Cousin In Milwaukee
Longtime friend of NYFOS Judy Kaye really shows her range on NYFOS’s album He Loves and She Loves. Here’s “My Cousin In Milwaukee” from Pardon My English by George and Ira Gershwin. From the program note for Broadway Orphans by Steven Blier:
Olaf Bienert: Parc Monceau
A mainstay of NYFOS’s early years, baritone William Sharp sings “Parc Monceau” (Olaf Bienert, text by Kurt Tucholsky) on Unquiet Piece, an album focused on German song written between the world wars.
Leonard Bernstein: Dream With Me
To celebrate NYFOS’s 30th Anniversary Season, Song of the Day is featuring some selections from our commercial recordings. Here is Judy Kaye singing “Dream With Me” from Leonard Bernstein’s Peter Pan, from NYFOS’s Grammy-winner recording Arias and Barcarolles.
William Bolcom: An Admirer
Machiavelli’s La Mandragola was Mark’s next idea, and he eventually convinced Bill that the idea had legs. “I liked it because it was centered around a woman,” Bill told me, “and (in our version) a woman who comes out on top. I had only one proviso: I wanted to set it in Argentina.” Why? “Well, I wanted to write a zarzuela…as imagined by the Marx Brothers.”
Rebecca Jo Loeb
Artist of the Month rings in 2018 with mezzo-soprano Rebecca Jo Loeb. Hailed as “a theatrical performer whose rise to watch” (Opera News), Ms. Loeb is based in Germany and sings throughout Europe and in the US. She recently made a “notable Met debut” (New York Times) as Flora in La Traviata at the Metropoitan Opera. A NYFOS Emerging Artist program alum, who has performed in our Mainstage and gala evenings, Ms. Loeb will return to NYFOS at the end of the month in our tour programs celebrating Leonard Bernstein.
Leonard Bernstein: My House
It’s the big Bernstein year. Steven Blier and I have already done a passel of LB shows, with more to come this winter and next fall. But here’s a beautiful rarity from his Peter Pan. Most folks don’t know it, since it didn’t have a big run on B’way. He wrote half a dozen songs for Boris Karloff’s show (he was Hook, of course), but as always, Lenny delivered some keepers.