The Boulanger Sisters

Nadia Boulanger in 1925

Lili Boulanger

A week or two ago, I had the opportunity to think about French music, specifically French music after 1900.  The opportunity? A serendipitous bit of advance program planning that dropped into my lap. It felt a bit like old home week in a very nice way, revisiting la France et sa musique--a musical "land" I'd spent a decent amount of time in the 90's with the Athena Trio and the talented Sylvie Beaudette and Jan Roberts-Hayden, touring and ultimately recording the program that became our CD "Fabulous Femmes."

So back to 20th century French music, programming, and women composers. I started thinking about the Boulanger sisters, Nadia and her younger sister Lili.  Without doubt the most influential musical pedagogue of the 20th century, Nadia taught literally scads of today's major composers. Her influence fans out exponentially if you include second generation Boulanger students, i.e., those composers who studied with those who studied with her.

Nadia won second place in the Prix de Rome, and lil' sis' Lili won it, the first woman to do so.  A talented composer in her own right, Nadia always insisted that her sib was the better of the two.  Yet Lili, never strong in constitution, died tragically young, before her 25th birthday.  In response, Nadia virtually ceased composing and turned her full attention to teaching, where she was already active, performing and conducting.

This leads to an interesting game of what if.

Imagine for a moment...

What if Lili had survived?  What then? 

Well, first of all, the world would probably have a wealth of works by Lili and Nadia--a wonderful legacy of both their musical talents and not a bad thing at all.

But what about all the composers who Nadia taught, such as Walter Piston, Marc Blitzstein, Elliott Carter,  Philip Glass, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, and locally, David Conte, among many others?  Might their compositional voices have developed differently?  What might the shape, color, and sound of classical music in the second half of the twentieth century, let alone today, have been like without Nadia Boulanger as such a major pedagogue, if, for example, she had continued  to split her attention between teaching and composing? Or if she'd decided to stop teaching and simply compose?

The mind boggles.

Much like so much of chaos theory, in which the beating of butterfly wings halfway across the globe can change things a continent away, a single event had untold significant consequences. In this case, stunning tragedy begot a stunningly positive legacy.

What I'm reading: Poetry by Czeslaw Milosz and Paul Celan; Meet at the Ark at Eight (yes, those were my chuckles you heard), Luna, The Princess Curse, Playing Juliet, and that fabulous international mystery set in Berlin, The Lady in Zagreb.

What I'm listening to: Clara Schumann's Op. 6 and Robert Schumann's Davidsbundlertaenze (inspired by a lovely concert played by a friend and wonderful colleague recently); music by Nadia and Lili Boulanger.

What I'm working on: Winter Solstice Songs by Elena Ruehr, Kay Ryan Songs by Laura Schwendinger, Bartok folk settings, and songs by Vandor,  in other words, my  November performance repertory for E4TT.  (And a big shout out to the PJCC for presenting us this weekend for that repertory! Wonderful concert, with a great audience.)

Chanson für Morgen (premiere): music by Bay Area composers Garner, Getty, Conte, Bilotta, Adams

After an embarassingly long absence from posting on my blog--can blogs whither and die from loneliness? If so, mine should have--I've got a short and shameful plug for my upcoming concert. In all fairness, it's got some pretty cool music, all by Bay Area composers, including a great new piece by David Garner that the amazing Kristin Pankonin and I will be premiering.

So, disclaimer done, here's the plug and the promo blurb--and

I do hope to see you there!

.......

Don't miss the premiere of David Garner's new song cycle, Chanson für Morgen this Saturday, April 2, in Berkeley, at Trinity Chamber Concerts (2320 Dana), 8 p.m.

Soprano Nanette McGuinness and pianist Kristin Pankonin will be performing a program of music by Bay Area composers, including John Adams, John Bilotta, David Conte, Gordon Getty, and--of course-- David Garner.

The concert features the premiere of Garner's new song cycle, Chanson für Morgen, with texts by the witty and evocative German/ Polish Jewish poet, Mascha Kaleko (1907-1975). Written for McGuinness and Pankonin, Chanson für Morgen is supported by the East Bay Community Foundation and also by your very generous donations to the EBFA's challenge commissioning grant last fall. The concert is also produced in association with the 26th Annual Jewish Music Festival.

Concert information:

When: April 2, 2011, 8 p.m.

Where: Trinity Chamber Concerts, 2320 Dana St., Berkeley

Tickets:Trinity Chamber Concerts

(510-549-3864)

$15/10

About Mascha Kaleko: A member of the so-called "los

t-generation," Kaleko is part the Jewish diaspora whose futures were destroyed during the Holocaust—despite their being fortunate enough to escape with their lives. After her family immigrated to Germany, Kaleko g

rew up to become a member of the pre-war artistic intelligentsia in Berlin. Her first publications of satiric verses were banned by the Nazis in the mid-1930s, and she left Germany for the U.S. shortly before World War II. She remainoed in exile for the rest of her life, first in the U.S. and then in Israel. Her story—as an eternal emigrant and exile, a Jew, a woman, and a mother—and her poetry both still resonate today.

The day after Christmas

We had a quiet, wonderful Christmas: took a walk around the Embarcadero to see a great miniature village at the Hyatt SF, played two of our terrific new board games (Dominion and Ticket to Ride Europe), feasted on stuffing, etc., slept in and ate homemade crepes for breakfast. Today was for using Christmas presents: I listened to my new collection of "Wait, wait don't tell me," podcasts, started using my new SIGG water bottle, and munched on Belgian bonbons (Leonidas chocolates). Very satisfying all around.

As promised, here's a bit more on Dec. 22's double bill (Trinity Lyric Opera) of Amahl & the Night Visitors (Menotti)/ The Gift of the Magi (David Conte):

I've always had a soft spot for the Menotti opera: it's a great seasonal favorite, very approachable, and warm-hearted. (Plus the Mother was one of my first complete roles, way back when, which adds to the warm and fuzzy feelings.) This Amahl was nicely done, with minimal sets but excellent singing and acting by all--mezzo-soprano Lisa van der Ploeg as the Mother, sweet-voiced David Kerns as Amahl, Torlef Borsting, Gregory Stapp, and Brian Thorsett as the Three Kings, and Martin Bell as the ever-vigilent Page.

Likewise, I've always had a very soft, 20-tissue spot for O'Henry's beloved tale. Conte and librettist Nicholas Giardini broadened the story somewhat, adding useful dramatic and vocal balance by giving each of the two protagonists a best friend. The Three Kings (same trio of singers as in the first half) reappear as well, with a couple of offstage commentaries on the story. Lisa van der Plough and Torlef Borsting both took nice turns as comic foils to the sweet, wonderfully-expressive duo of Marnie Breckenridge and Andrew Garland. With readily excerptable arias and duets, Conte's fluid score is lyrical and graceful, as always. Despite the lack of an actual pit at the SFCM, John Kendall Bailey and the orchestra carried out both pieces with panache, and a good holiday time was had by all.
(Major Disclaimer: most of these folks are my friends and/ or colleagues, so I'm more than just a tad bit biased.)

The thread of the Three Kings and their gifts ties the two operas together into a well-connected seasonal package. Hopefully other opera companies will make this into a traditional double bill.


What I'm reading: Finished Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie.

When I first started this book,I put it down after a handful of pages for a few days. The next time I picked it up, I was hooked. At that point, I read the book in one quick gulp.
A YA coming-of-age tale with a 9th grade protagonist who--despite what he thinks--manages to lead a charmed life. Included several great strands beyond the primary plot: clever word play and word games, stealth English lessons, journal/diary entries to a person whom I won't name (plot spoiler otherwise). Although there were a couple of less-than-likely turns of events, the twists of the plot mostly rang very true, and the characters, especially the "hero," lingered with me for several days after I had finished the book.
Also finished the first volume (contains 3 issues, translated into English) of David B's autobiographical graphic novel Epileptic. Evocative, fantastic drawing style that tells a (thus far) sad story.

What I'm listening to: Wait, wait don't tell me, Saint-Saens' El desdichado (in a wonderful historic rendition from 1935 with baritone Pierre Bernac and soprano Leila Ben Sedira, singing the French-language version--this is such a cool duet, for those who've never heard it), various Kurt Weill songs (I do love Weill), and Leontyne Price!

What I'm working on: Reger's Marias Wiegenlied for a post-Christmas service, new Joseph Marx, Schoenberg, and Weill for a concert in February.

Hope everyone is having a lovely, cozy, healthy holiday!

Calder, Conte, and more

Happy Hannukah, everyone!

Late last night, I finished The Calder Game. Not a bad kidlit whodunit--and definitely worth reading.

The art history and art background are fantastic and fascinating. I've read both this and the first book in this series (Chasing Vermeer) and found the denoument of both books somewhat of a fizzle. I found myself skimming along in a many places, which can be a good sign (I can't wait to see what happens!!!) or a bad sign (I really want to know what happens but am not engaged enough to stand reading every last detail). For C.V. and T.C.G., it was a little of both and somewhere between. But I still enjoyed them...

Then this evening, I went to Trinity Lyric Opera's holiday double bill of Amahl and the Night Visitors and the West Coast premiere of David Conte's Gift of the Magi, which closed tonight at the S.F. Conservatory. (The first two performances were at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts.) More on this tomorrow as it is muy spaet at this point...

What I'm reading: Started David B's graphic novel Epileptic and Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar.

What I'm listening to: as above, plus continuing with the fun Beginning Arabic CD.

What I'm working on: nuthin' new here