A Play of Poems for Soprano, Baritone and Orchestra. (Original Composition).

Abstract

A Play of Poems is a setting of Baroque poems for soprano, baritone and orchestra. These four seventeenth century poems and an excerpt from St. Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises" are alive with the "disorderly" passion of the time, which included the terrible 30 Years War in Northern Europe. The freshness of their message was an inspiration for a vivid 20th century treatment. Love, war, time and the world of the senses are addressed in the poems, which were occasionally paired to enhance dramatic potential. In "To A Young Lady", by Vincent Voiture, the soprano and baritone confront one anothers unfaithfulness. "Kisses Loathsome", by Robert Herrick, provides the perfect antithesis to the sensual "On Mouth" by Christian Hofman Von Hofmanswaldau. Taken from St. Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises", the "Five Torments" describe the Biblical version of Hell and provides an introduction to man's self inflicted punishment in "On War" by Laurent Drelincourt. The seventeenth century is a very interesting epoch from the st and point of human behavior. Poets and men of high estate thought of themselves as living upon a stage and their words and actions were calculated to produce a desired effect. Yet at the same time men found themselves time and again the helpless victims of political and social upheavals. Literature and the arts in general flourished to expressive climaxes in response to the realization that man is powerless against fate. In this composition, I have succeeded in generating music that exploits the dramatic contrasts of tempi and dynamics. Each of the orchestral groups is featured in colorful virtuosic display. Melodic and rhythmic fragments mirror the explosive moments from the texts, and the more introspective moments are accompanied with suave gentleness.