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Michael John LaChiusa: The Fall
“The Fall,” the finale of Queen of the Mist. I am biased, because this musical was written for me, but I cannot listen to it without crying buckets. Queen is by Michael John LaChiusa, and as far as I am concerned, he is a genius.
Prince: Sometimes It Snows in April
“Sometimes It Snows in April.” Prince. My heart broke the day Prince died. Such a genius. This is another wise, sad song. I love it so much, it is on my album, Have Faith with Micheal Starobin. (Shameless plug).
Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen: Here’s That Rainy Day
Tony Bennett singing “Here’s That Rainy Day” by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen. Nobody loves a sad song more than me. Exquisite. And nobody does what Tony Bennett does. Nobody.
Adam Guettel: Daybreak
“Daybreak” by Adam Guettel from Floyd Collins. I must have listened to this at least 800 times. To my ear, it is a spectacularly sad song, which I love, and Christopher Innvar and Jason Danieley’s performances are heartbreaking.
Jack Gottlieb: Eitz Chayim
Jews liken the oral and written tradition to an ever-living, ever-flourishing source of inspiration. The text of “Eitz Chayim” is always sung when returning the Torah scrolls to the ark, along with a prayer to “renew our days as of old.” The late composer, teacher and scholar Dr. Jack Gottlieb wrote his setting of it for the 1970 New Year’s Service for Young People and dedicated the piece to Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, the first woman to be ordained a cantor.
Eliyahu Gamliel: Eretz Zavat Chalav
A vast canon of what Israelis consider to be “folk” songs were actually composed in the last 80 years by real people. Eliyahu Gamliel’s famous setting caught the attention of none other than Nina Simone, who recorded it in 1962 from the piano with her band and, fortunately for us, the cameras were running!
Basya Schechter: Teshuva
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was one of the 20th century’s most renowned teachers, philosophers – and, as it turns out, poets! Heschel’s early Yiddish poetry inspired the contemporary cantor and performer Basya Schechter to compose Songs of Wonder, an entire album set to it.
Et Shaarei Ratzon (The Gates of God’s Will)
On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we recount how Abraham bound Isaac to an altar and nearly sacrificed him. Sephardic Jews precede the Biblical chanting of the story with this 12th century piyyut (liturgical poem) expressing the same story through dramatic imagery and cantorial/choral call and response. Each stanza ends with the refrain oked v’ne’ekad v’hamizbei’ach, “the binder, the bound, and the sacrifice.”
Leonard Cohen: Who by Fire
Shanah tovah umetukah! I’m honored to be curating this week’s NYFOS Songs of the Day as Jews all over the world welcome the new year 5777 today and tomorrow. The great Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen drew inspiration from the traditional Rosh Hashanah liturgy to write “Who by Fire,” here performed in 1989 by the composer together with the incomparable jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins.
Shara Nova: An Unknown Distance Yet To Run (from The Colorado Project)
I am beyond thrilled to be part of this project from the ground up, four years in the making. However, I wanted to bring forth this project with the NYFOS family as it illustrates the shared belief that song is the most powerful tool to effectively connect with each other. A powerful film that documents the Colorado River with 9 commissioned new songs…
Alicia Hall Moran: Heavy Blue
Buy this record. Again, through my incredible work as Director of Artistic Planning at National Sawdust, I have been fortunate to meet new artists. Alicia was our Artist in Residence last year and she launched this powerful record as a starting point for her residency. This entire album inspires me to get up in the morning, go to work, and find ways to support artists, every day. Thank you Alicia!
Franz Schubert: Gute Nacht
Winterreise is an epic song cycle that has been recorded, discussed and performed millions of times. There is a reason why. However, this particular singer and his work with William Kentridge served a catalyst for me as a programmer to dare to hear standard repertoire with a visual lens.
Paola Prestini: Union
As a “recovering” opera singer myself, I am immediately drawn to Paola Prestini’s incredible capacity to write gorgeous music for singers. Through getting to know her through our work together at VisionIntoArt and National Sawdust* where we commissioned over 10 world premieres and umpteen artists together since 2012, I now know her incredible capacity to write beautiful music is a simple extension of her beautiful spirit.
Lou Reed: Perfect Day (sung by Helga Davis)
I first heard Helga at Philip Glass/Robert Wilson’s “Einstein on The Beach” during BAM’s Next Wave Festival in 2012. I didn’t know her personally and was incredibly fortunate to meet her a few months later. Helga is a beacon and this song captures her incredible artistry and vocal intensity.
Richard Strauss: September
The garden is mourning,
the rain sinks coolly into the flowers.
Summer shudders
as it meets its end.