Resounding Verse
Join music theorist Stephen Rodgers as he explores how composers transform words into songs. Each episode discusses one poem and one musical setting of it. The music is diverse—covering a variety of styles and time periods, and focusing on composers from underrepresented groups—and the tone is accessible and personal. If you love poetry and song, no matter your background and expertise, this show is for you. Episodes are 20-40 minutes long and air every couple of months.
Resounding Verse
Das Blatt im Buche (The Leaf in the Book): Anastasius Grün and Pauline Decker
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This episode explores the first song in a cycle I assembled from stand-alone songs by Pauline Decker—using curation as a form of advocacy.
It features a world-premiere recording of the song by tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Jocelyn Freeman. A recording of the entire song cycle, also featuring mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, can be found on my website Art Song Augmented. The score to the cycle is available via ClarNan Editions, a division of Classical Vocal Reprints.
For an account of the creation of this cycle, see my essay "Love Letters" from the Women's Song Forum.
Das Blatt im Buche
Anastasius Grün
*Ich seh’ eine alte Dame,
Die ein altes Büchlein hat,
Es liegt in dem alten Buche
Ein altes, dürres Blatt.
So dürr sind wohl auch die Hände,
Die’s einst im Lenz ihr gepflückt.
Was mag wohl die Alte haben,
Sie weint, wenn sie’s erblickt?
The Leaf in the Book
*I see an old woman
Who has a small, old book,
In the old book lies
An old, dried leaf.
The hands that once picked it for her in springtime
Are likely just as dry.
Whatever could be amiss with the old woman,
She weeps whenever she sees it?
(translation by Sharon Krebs)
* The original first line of Grün's poem is "Ich hab' eine alte Muhme" (I have an old aunt). I changed it to "Ich seh' eine alte Dame" (I see an old woman).