Music and poetry are kind of like two star-crossed lovers that lead separate lives and do fine all by themselves, but once they meet, magical things start to happen. Then before you know it, a song is born!
I think most people realize that what we think of as a song is really just that — poetry set to music. But actually, there’s a little bit more to it, and songs as we know them were not always what a song actually was.
If you ever watch any movies or read some books about notable figures or heroes set hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years ago, you will probably come across a phrase something like, “He will be remembered and honored in song and story for all time.” In that context and period, they weren’t talking about a musical selection, they were talking about some kind of poetry. That was one of the original meanings of the word “song.”
In fact, if you look it up in the dictionary, that word actually has seven different definitions, so it’s meaning can vary quite a bit by the context it’s used in. But I won’t bore you with all the details about that. I just wanted to set the stage for this week’s event by reminding everyone how closely music and poetry are related and talking about what a song actually is gets us off on the right foot.
It’s kind of funny how music and poetry started off as two different things, merged together to form songs for ages, but in the 20th century, sort of morphed a bit into being performed together but separate. If you have ever seen beatnik poetry readings in the 1950s and ‘60s, they would usually read their poems with a jazz combo interacting with them in the background. They weren’t combined into a song, but they were working together. Then think about Rap music. It’s usually a rhythmic poem recited on top of a musical groove, not integrated into a melody like other songs. So, in both of those cases, music and poetry walk hand in hand instead of morphing into one thing.
Those are all examples of how poetry and music come together. But there is another way. Sometime a composer is inspired to write music to depict something instrumentally that’s inspired by those “songs and stories” using the first definition I mentioned. Tchaikovsky’s Peter and the Wolf is probably the most famous example of that kind of thing. They refer to those as a “tone poem.”
Well, on Sunday, Feb. 2, the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra will be presenting a few more examples with their Poetry in Music concert. Conducted by their new Assistant Conductor, Dr. Sara Parkinson, the orchestra will be showcasing three pieces of music inspired by different stories and poems. The concert will be highlighted by talented principal French hornist Alicia Watson, who will be performing Hindemith’s virtuosic Horn Concerto, written with an accompanying short poem.
The other compositions include Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountain. Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, he composed a “musical picture” on the theme of a Witches’ Sabbath occurring at Bald Mountain on St. John’s Eve, which he completed on that very night, June 23,1867.
Then there’s Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks which chronicles the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero, Till Eulenspiegel. The music is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best.
And finally, there’s Sensemayá, which is a composition for orchestra by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, which is based on the poem of the same title by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén. The poem is based on Afro-Cuban religious cults. In this poem we meet an adept known as the “mayombero” who leads a ritual which offers the sacrifice of a snake to a god. Uhm, at this point I want to note that there is no mention in the promotional material for the concert about bringing a live snake on stage, although that might be a memorable addition to the performance. Just sayin’.
The Poetry in Music concert will be held at the Green Center on the Colorado School of Mines campus at 3 p.m. Feb. 2 and you can find out more plus order tickets at www.jeffsymphony.org.
John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also is president of John Akal Imaging, professional commercial photography and multimedia production. He can be reached at jaimaging@aol.com.