The Dickinson Songs of Aaron Copland

Résumé du livre

There could be no more fitting subject for the opening volume of the new series, CMS SOURCEBOOKS IN AMERICAN MUSIC, than Copland's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. Long a favorite of performers and audiences alike, this inimitable cycle of art songs created at mid-century by one of America's most treasured composers pays tribute to one of America's revered poets. Starr convincingly identifies the shared aesthetic affinities of the poet and the composer in spite of the social, artistic, and chronological gaps that separated them, and explains the pivotal nature of the work in Copland's output. He then sensitively describes the singular musical solutions devised for each poem, all the while emphasizing the composer's respect for the idiosyncratic characteristics of Dickinson's verse. Commentary on the original version for soprano and piano is supplemented by information on Copland's later orchestrations of some of the songs, a discussion of performance and interpretation, plus an annotated discography. The accompanying CD contains two versions of the work discussed by Larry Starr in the book.