| Author | Message | ||
| Rus Bowden
Intermediate Member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 315 Registered: 03-2007 |
"The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music; but this must not be taken as implying that all good music is dance music or all poetry lyric. Bach and Mozart are never too far from physical movement." [--Ezra Pound] Last night, Poetry & Poets in Rags linked to the following article that begins by featuring William Butler Yeats's poem "The Stolen Child" set to music by Loreena McKennitt: WaarMaarRaar: Deep Thought Today, another article appeared on the web that highlights McKennitt's musical association with poetry: The Columbus Dispatch: Exotic sounds infuse Celtic melodies She is quoted as saying: "I look for particular kinds of poems. First of all, they must resonate within the banner of the rough theme that I might be working on. . . . The second thing is looking at the imagery. I love to find a very strong imagery. . . . One is also looking at the pragmatic things: Are the phrases of the poem singable? Because sometimes you get wonderful poems but they can be misery to sing." This past June, Poetry & Poets in Rags linked to this article by Sam Sadigursky: All About Jazz: Jazz and Poetry: The Words Project The Words Project is about setting poetry to music, specifically jazz. Here is Sadigursky's website: http://www.samsadigursky.com. Click Enter to go further into the site and you will hear his music. Click on "Listen" to select tracks. In the article he writes: "Basing a composition on a poem presents a multitude of challenges artistically and musically. A poem, regardless of form or verse, exists on its own, its own entity, possessing a rhyme, rhythm and a music within. I constantly ask myself whether poets actually want this done to their work. It can often feel like clothing a great nude sculpture or framing an unframed work of art and thus must be approached with great delicacy. " On Sadigursky's title webpage, there is this quote from Brad Walseth: "Words and music--a union not always equal or necessarily tranquil. Serious words, expressing perceptive thought in an artful way is hardly the norm in jazz or any music, especially since music is generally constrained by beats and measures in a way much modern poetry is not. As such, the combination of the arts of poetry and music is a rarely attempted feat and one that is hardly ever pulled off successfully, with most lyricists reverting to moon and June rhymes and shallow platitudes. Thankfully, Sam Sadigursky’s The Words Project is the exception to this norm in its brilliant combination of poems by poets like Donald Justice, Paul Auster, and Maxine Kumin. . . a satisfyingly emotional and haunting experience" . | ||
| Fred Longworth
Advanced Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 2266 Registered: 05-2006 |
I would rather have it be: Setting music to poetry. To use a sexual analogy, the question is: Which is on top? The form of the phrase "setting poetry to music" concedes the dominance of music. Fred * * * * * (Message edited by sandiegopoet on October 11, 2007) | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 382 Registered: 07-2006 |
Composers often refer to it as "setting the text" or "composing a setting for the text". I like the latter; it puts one in mind of a jeweler setting a gem. I have to say as far as dominance/topandbottomry, I tend to see a melody and the textual materials as equal. The song is a new thing and more than just the sum of the tune and the words separately. I don't see one as having primacy over the other. I actually set and recorded "She Walks in Beauty" (Byron) for my wife a few years back. Might dig it out and post a link. (Message edited by dwillo on October 11, 2007) I want either less corruption, or more chance to participate in it. ~Ashleigh Brilliant | ||
| Lazarus
Advanced Member Username: lazarus Post Number: 2269 Registered: 10-2005 |
I've been studying musicals for my current adaptation of a book to a play, so this subject really inerests me. I've found that songs are employed to show feelings that don't lend themselves very well to dramatization. It might not be poetry, and there might be some moon and June thrown in, but the combination of words and music is a great way to show human emotion more clearly than either one can show on its own. -Laz My Web Page | ||
| Rus Bowden
Intermediate Member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 317 Registered: 03-2007 |
Check out these terrific responses to setting poetry to music: Zyskandar A. Jaimot at MoonTown Café Johanna Donovan and Mitchell Geller at Desert Moon Review misskeenish and White_Rabbit at The Fray michaela gabriel at Inside the Writer's Studio Kitty at The Rabbit Hole (the now "recent" posts in the IBPC News thread) Making (Mignon) at The Waters Fred Longworth, Will Eastland, and Lazarus at Wild Poetry Forum Beth Vieira at The Critical Poet ~~~~~ Both Kitty and michaela spoke of Loreena McKennitt doing Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" (the poem) michaela further spoke of these: Loreena McKennit doing Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman" (the poem) Julia Hülsmann Trio & Rebekka Bakken doing E.E. Cummings' "anyone lived in a pretty how town" (the poem) michaela reminded me of Björk doing E.E. Cummings' "I Will Wade Out" (the poem) And, in reference to Sam Sadigursky, he joined poet/singer Andrea Tierra, her husband Edmar Castañeda, and Dave Silliman, in a rendition of Tierra's poem Canto. Go to her website: Andrea Tierra and click on "Poetry". . | ||
| Will Eastland
Intermediate Member Username: dwillo Post Number: 386 Registered: 07-2006 |
She Walks In Beauty MP3 So I found a friend to host this. Enjoy. It is not fully produced, more towards "demo" in quality. Recorded for Valentine's Day, 2000. I want either less corruption, or more chance to participate in it. ~Ashleigh Brilliant | ||
| Rus Bowden
Intermediate Member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 318 Registered: 03-2007 |
. Will Eastland calls it "composing a setting for the text" and he shares an mp3 of his work at Wild Poetry Forum White_Rabbit shares examples at The Fray More great conversation from these poetry lovers: maryanncorbett , Making (Mignon), and Judy at The Waters Dragon, reader2rider, & Beth Vieira at The Critical Poet . | ||
| Guy Parker
New member Username: outsidethelinesofreason Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2007 |
There was, of course, Edwin Morgan's Scottish Fiction that was written specifically for Idlewild's In Remote, Part 1. | ||
| Emusing
Senior Member Username: emusing Post Number: 4822 Registered: 08-2003 |
Anyone who knows early McKennitt has heard her gorgeous homage to Tennyson's Lady of Shalott. She brings poetry to the masses along the highest aesthetic wave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-HxULM e www.wordwalkerpress.com | ||
| Jim Doss
Moderator Username: jimdoss Post Number: 3330 Registered: 12-2003 |
Talking about poetry and music, it's hard not to think of the Beat poets who popularized the form in the US. Jack Kerouac and Steve Allen's collaborations immediately come to mind-- poetry for the beat generation. Or later Leonard Cohen, who has set much of his poetry to music, both sung and spoken. Done well, music can certainly enhance and accentuate the critical passages of a poem as well as influence interpretation, similar to the way music sets the mood in a movie. Done poorly it becomes an unnecessary irritant. Least anyone think this is an English only phenomenon, check out the Trakl poem Traum und Umnachtung at http://www.myspace.com/synthasis. An English translation of the poem can be found at http://www.literaturnische.de/Trakl/english/seb-e.htm#dreamandderangement. Jim My Blog Loch Raven Review Editor Trakl Translations | ||
| Rus Bowden
Intermediate Member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 320 Registered: 03-2007 |
. Some more very considered responses to setting poetry to music, broadening and deepening this discussion in our poetry community, some with examples for us to check out: michaela gabriel at Inside the Writer's Studio Making (Mignon) at The Waters Dragon at The Critical Poet Guy Parker, Emusing, & Jim Doss at Wild Poetry Forum . | ||
| Helen Margaret Rees
Intermediate Member Username: cinnamonbrandy Post Number: 402 Registered: 09-2006 |
Can I just say... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIKWHuxljFE Who cares who's on top, who's on the bottom? All of that's just an accident of gravity, irrelevant to truth, beauty, love and losses. It should draw the tears from your heart, or place a skip in your step. Or both - that's all. Helen | ||
| Rus Bowden
Intermediate Member Username: rusbowden Post Number: 322 Registered: 03-2007 |
This is an extraordinary interboard discussion, and I want to thank all the participants. There has been no response, short or long, that I have not enjoyed and appreciated. This is probably the case for others as well. May I request, that if a blog post or online article is inspired in you from some aspect of this discussion, that you please share it in the thread, and I will link that in as well. Here is Brad Walseth's article in JazzChicago.net: Sam Sadigursky: "The Words Project". It is the article with the quote referenced in this thread's first post. It turns out that it is a very recent and strong article, and made the News at Eleven section of Poetry & Poets in Rags yesterday. At the forums . . . Carol moves from a private forum to last Tuesday's Yeat's thread in Poetry & Poets in Rags and gets speciific about what works and what doesn't for Loreena McKennitt's rendering of "The Stolen Child". Steve Bunch at another private forum speaks of Edward Sanders work. posthumous, Dragon, arabianlady (Brenda), & I discuss, at The Critical Poet, among some tangentials and other points, poetry written to be set to music, and what types of poems are selected for music by composers. Helen Margaret Rees at Wild Poetry Forum speaks of relevance and links to Eddi Reader singing Ae Fond Kiss. Pris Campbell at MiPO's cafe' cafe' compares Loreena McKennitt's to Phil Ochs' rendition of Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman . |
