The Best American Poetry

A Quick Meditation on Gustave Mahler

Wittgenstein dismissed Mahler’s music, but he conceded
that "very rare talents [were needed] to produce this bad music.”
Leonard Bernstein as conductor of the New York Philharmonic
sparked the Mahler boom of the 1960s. In Visconti's Death in Venice
you can hear  the slow fourth movement of Mahler's fifth in C Sharp minor,
which Mahler conducted in Cologne in 1904. In the movie
a heavily made-up Dirk Bogarde played himself as a repressed homosexual
with a death wish. Visconti cast Bogarde for the role because he had done so well
as a Nazi in a black shirt with a smirk and an SS symbol on his collar
in The Damned. So I, on a day dominated by Mahler’s Fifth,
thought of the composer who spoke Yiddish as a boy,
"a Bohemian in Austria, an Austrian among Germans,
and a Jew all over," on his birthday, July 7, 1860.

--  David Lehman

Long Ago, and Far Away: Sinatra at the Hollywood Bowl, 1943 & 1948

That's Mel Torme narrating the documentary.

Bobby Darin sings Beyond the Sea (studio version & in performance)

Here's the extended version from 1973, all ten minutes of it:

the studio version:

1959:

Silent Notes [by Lera Auerbach]

Silent Notes. Photo by Lera Auerbah

 

When pianos are not played,
they become very sad,
they collect silent notes.
Unplayed music floats –
invisible dust of overtones.
The dead are waiting expectantly:
so many keys – 88 – all untouched. 
The day of silent music
sheds the signature of uncaptured Time.

(“What are you practicing now?”
my mother asks me quietly.
Her eyebrows raised. I shrug.)

from the archive; first posted 10/15/21

WEDNESDAYS WITH DENISE: October 11, 2023

It’s not unusual to find poets writing about pop songs, but it is unusual for a poet to write an entire book centered on pop music.  Enter the very funny Matt Mason, the Nebraska State Poet, who writes poems that veer from nostalgia to wisdom via Prince, Blondie, Dire Straits, the Go-Go’s, ELO, and Journey. His latest book Rock Stars (published last month by Button Press) is a book of poetry with a fierce beat, a book you can dance to! 

Here’s a sample poem about the great equalizer, about karaoke:

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=oakwood

And "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones...

On George Gershwin's Birthday [by David Lehman]

On George Gershwin’s birthday
I keep expecting them to play
Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris,
the Cuban Overture,  the Concerto in F,
Porgy and Bess as played by Miles Davis,
but no, all day it’s been Dvorak, Grieg,
Rimsky-Korsakov, and other worthies
not born today, Elgar for heaven’s sake;
at least they could give us some Debussy,
as didn’t "they" (such a useful pronoun)
criticize him for imitating Debussy,
or Ravel, who declined to give George lessons
saying, “Why become a second-rate Ravel
when you’re already a first-rate Gershwin?”

-- DL

Froim the archive; posted by The Best American Poetry on September 26, 2020 at 03:59 AM 

On George Gershwin’s birthday
I keep expecting them to play
Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris,
the Cuban Overture,  the Concerto in F,
Porgy and Bess as played by Miles Davis,
but no, all day it’s been Dvorak, Grieg,
Rimsky-Korsakov, and other worthies
not born today, Elgar for heaven’s sake;
at least they could give us some Debussy,
as didn’t "they" (such a useful pronoun)
criticize him for imitating Debussy,
or Ravel, who declined to give George lessons
saying, “Why become a second-rate Ravel
when you’re already a first-rate Gershwin?”

-- DL

Helen Forrest and Lee Wiley Sing for Your Pleasure (with Style)

Bites of the Rite [by Lewis Saul]

I mean to look at five different very small-scale details, and demonstrate the hard-to-beat Pierre Boulez's 1969 recording with the Cleveland  Orchestra:

 

:

Obviously, recording techniques have evolved a lot since then -- and there are many other great recordings; here's just a few:

 

Monteux/Grand Orchestre Symphonique (1929). He conducted the premiere and was one of the first to record it.
Bernstein/NY (1958). A really excellent and thoughtful interp. The Phil was at its best here ...
Orozco-Estrada/Frankfurt Radio (2015). Love this guy and this band.
Gemma New/Dallas (2023). I highly recommend this version, especially for the video work, which marries the audio perfectly ...

I.

Stravinsky's subtitle is so descriptive: Fertility of the Earth.

 

This four-bar nibble occurs just a few moments into the piece. For the purpose of this example, I want to draw your attention to the two bass clarinets.

There are two other things going on -- a fluttering alto flute and the insistent English horn.

 

 

 

II.

 

This cookie is a wonderful taste of courageous orchestration.

Stravinsky has a nice steady pulse going on -- the piccolo plays a familiar melody, while the contrabassoons and the fourth French horn (in its lowest register!) plays 1/4 notes on the offbeats in major sevenths. In some recordings, this lovely off-beat rhythm is barely heard ... or worse.

 

 

III.

 

Stravinsky is building up to this massive climax which culminates in a bar of silence before the Dance of the Earth. This little detail has always fascinated me ... and is not as well-defined by other recordings as in this one.

There are four main things going on. We're concerning ourselves only with #3-4!

1. The melody is a clever five-bar phrase, where bar 3 is repeated;
2. These are the tenor and bass "Wagner" tubas (they produce a sound similar to a baritone horn). Long notes, also composed as a five-note phrase;
3. The entrance of the bass drum. Notice that it's in 3/4 (the 1/8th-notes in the timpani help define the beat) -- producing that wonderful two-against-three effect ... but it gets even better!
4. The tam-tam plays one beat between two bass drum beats, creating yet another polyrhythm! All this is clear as a bell in this magical Cleveland recording!

 

IV.

 

Two muted trumpets. Listen to how carefully the Cleveland players match each other's tone!

 

Stravinsky lengthens the duet for a bar or two, and then drops in this beautiful counter-riff:

Two violas and two cellos play this spooky little jagged triplet, while the rest of the cellos keep a steady 1/8th-note pulse.

The trumpets repeat their somber theme one more time, and Stravinsky sweeps everything up with his great, magical orchestration. Like a floating ghost, the trumpet theme is taken up by a new combination -- clarinets and horn. The only pulse is the pizzicato cello, as the texture thickens with the triplet motif. 

 

 

V.

 

 

A glissando by the English horn ends on a held G-Sharp against the steady plucked D's (a tritone apart). An alto flute joins in.

 

After much working out, Stravinsky returns to this idea, which will lead directly into the ferocious Sacrificial Dance. But note a small detail of orchestration. The glissando is played by a muted bass trumpet

which must carefully lead into the English horn note, which it does three more times. The alto flute again answers the E.H.

 

 

Once again, Stravinsky challenges the two bass clarinet players:

 

 

Melodica Men
Bad Plus

Theme Music: The Candide Overture [by Leonard Bernstein, on LB's birthday]

from "A Good Week for a Birthday" (in The Morning Line by David Lehman)

What would I choose as my theme music
if I were the classical music disc jockey
maybe Bernstein’s overture to Candide
or Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s “Cakewalk”
or Schubert’s overture to “Rosamunde”
in honor of John Scheuer
I have my Tolstoy to look forward to
and if music can stand for peace (the food of love)
today’s poem is a little tribute to the novel
summarized TV-Guide style:
Pierre loves Natasha and Napoleon invades Russia.

 

Three versions of "Too Marvelous for Words" by three great big band singers

 

 

Agree or disagree: one poll of TV's top ten themes

The Perry Mason Theme by Fred Steiner is also known as the Park Avenue Theme.

The Century Martini: Vive la republique de France a quatorze juillet

 

(art by Hilary Cooper, 2020; clip from Casablanca)

La Marseillaise

Allons, enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L’étendard sanglant est levé;
L’étendard sanglant est levé.
Entendez-vous, dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes.
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.

"La Marseillaise" was written in one night, (April 24, 1792) by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

Terry Riley [by Lewis Saul]

Gawd, I detest fit-me-into-a-shoebox musical terminology.

Baroque. If it's not baroque, don't fix it.

Classical. Classical music. But from 1750-1830, when forms such as the symphony, concerto and sonata were developed, someone decided it needed a name. Stalin would have called it formalism. People were executed for practicing it.

Romantic. Generally thought of as everything after 1804 -- when Beethoven's Third Symphony ("Eroica") came into our universe.

Late Romantic. Schmaltz (Except for Mahler) ...

20th century. Richard Strauss died in 1949. Show me some of his "20th century music"!

**

Of course, I know we need words to describe things -- but music is universal and often refuses to shoehorn into labels.

Wikipedia:

Minimal music (also called minimalism) is a form of art music or other compositional practice that employs limited or minimal musical materials. Prominent features of minimalist music include repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units. It may include features such as phase shifting, resulting in what is termed phase music, or process techniques that follow strict rules, usually described as process music. The approach is marked by a non-narrative, non-teleological, and non-representational approach, and calls attention to the activity of listening by focusing on the internal processes of the music.

employs limited or minimal musical materials

In the first movement Beethoven's Fifth, he breaks down that famous four-note theme (or motif) into a single note. Minimalism.

repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units

 

Beethoven again -- apparently a minimalist.

process techniques

 

What the hell does that mean? All music involves "processing technique."

 

**

So, today let's listen to two very different works by the composer Terry Riley (b. 1935) -- each written between 1968 and 1969.

In C (1968)

 

Technically, in the key of C, Riley adds a foreign F-Sharp (#14) and B-Flat (#35).

A pulse is activated by playing the highest octave of C's on a piano. Any group of instruments, then begins playing each numbered phrase -- maintaining the rhythm of the pulse.

It is up to each player to decide when to move on to the next section. This result is an amazing mélange of aleatoric glorious sound.

 

 

 

A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969)

 

In this piece, Riley uses tape-loops to overlay different phrases on an organ and soprano saxophone. The result is a hypnotic work of almost indescribable beauty.

The back of the LP contained a poem Riley wrote which you should read before listening:

And then all wars ended
Arms of every kind were outlawed and the masses gladly contributed them to giant foundries in which they were melted down and the metal poured back into the earth

The Pentagon was turned on its side and painted purple, yellow & green
All boundaries were dissolved
The slaughter of animals was forbidden
The whole of Lower Manhattan became a meadow in which unfortunates from the Bowery were allowed to live out their fantasies in the sunshine and were cured
People swam in the sparkling rivers under blue skies streaked only with incense pouring from the new factories
The energy from dismantled nuclear weapons provided free heat and light
World health was restored
An abundance of organic vegetables, fruits and grains was growing wild along the discarded highways
National flags were sewn together into brightly colored circus tents under which politicians were allowed to perform harmless theatrical games
The concept of work was forgotten

 

Harold Bloom on Jazz

Harold Bloom [photo by Sue Mingus]

. . . the whole jazz tradition from at least Amstrong on features what was called "cutting." And cutting is the pure instance – from the Greeks on, and it was revived by Jacob Burckhardt and Friedrich Nietzsche – of the agonistic spirit; the agon or the contest. The last cutting contest I heard was the rather unequal match between the extremely brave Branford Marsalis and Sonny Rollins – very brave of Branford. Of all living masters in jazz now, Rollins is surely the greatest extant…… Among poets it’’s always a competition. Mr. Stevens and Mr. Eliot existed at the same time. Mr. Eliot thought well of Wallace Stevens and published him in England by Faber & Faber. Stevens refused to say a word about Eliot in prose, though it entered into the letters occasionally and it was family tradition; that’’s how they told me he didn’t like Eliot or his poetry. Didn’t like the fact that Harmonium had been crowded out by The Waste Land in 1922……

Harold Bloom in conversation with Chris Lydon, at Bloom’s home in New Haven. http://www.radioopensource.org/at_home_with_harold_bloom_3_the_jazz_bridge/

from the archive; first posted June 30, 2008

On Richard Rodgers's birthday [from the BBC Proms 2010: The "Carousel Waltz" and other great Rodgers & Hammerstein Songs]

Pictured: Richard Rodgers (June 28,1902 - December 30, 1979)

Happy birthday, Dick.

Bea Wain, "You Go to My Head"

"though I 'm certain that this heart of mine hasn't a ghost of a chance/ in this crazy romance,/ you go to my head."

Happy birthday, Dean Martin (June 7)

 

Happy birthday, Dino. Ain't that a kick in the head?

 

Bach [by Lewis Saul]

Today, I'm here to talk about my favorite Bach ensemble -- The Netherlands Bach Society and their "All of Bach" project -- particularly Bach's long-form works.

The St. Matthew Passion (2:44:31) is at the top of the list for me. 164 minutes may seem like a long time, but the music is so sublime, the time just flies by. At the bottom of the above link is another link that says "into the weeds with me," which will take you to my first post here -- 13 years ago -- where I compare and contrast five different recordings of the Passion.

Equally demanding is the great Mass in B Minor (1:48:42).

 

**

Less demanding are the 250 cantatas (index). They average 20-30 minutes in length, and demonstrate Bach's consistently fabulous part-writing. The first 200 or so are sacred, and the rest secular (wedding, hunting -- even tax collectors [#212]).

But today, I'll speak of the magnificent Magnificat from 1733, a mere 28 minutes long. Click on the Luke links to see the English translation of each movement.

Magnificat, BWV 243 (1733)
1. Magnificat anima mea Dominum
2. Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari mea
3. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent
4. omnes generationes
5. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen ejus
6. Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus eum
7. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui
8. Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles
9. Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes
10. Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae
11. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini ejus in saecula
12. Gloria Patri, et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Netherlands Bach Society
Jos van Veldhoven, cond.
(28:29)

 

 

 

 

In 1723, after taking up his post as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Bach set this text in 12 movements for Christmas in the key of E-Flat Major.

A decade later, Bach revised the work, dropping the Christmas hymns, altering or expanding some instrumentation, and changing the key to D Major for the trumpets -- their natural key. The probable date for the first performance of this version was July 2, 1733, for the feast day of Visitation (although some scholars believe it wasn't until the following Christmas). That year there had been a period of mourning (February to June) after the death of Augustus the Strong, during which no concerted music was allowed in the churches.

 

The choir is in five voices: SSATB.

 

The arch symmetry is magical:

• Mvmnts 1/2 & 11/12 in tonic
• Mvmnts 3 & 10 in relative minor
• Mvmnts 5 & 9 in major keys other than D
• Mvmnts 6 & 8 minor key
• Mvmnt 7 tonic

1. Magnificat anima mea Dominum
Luke 1:46

2. Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari mea

Luke 1:47

 

All arias are non-da capo. This is sung by Soprano II, with string accompaniment, continuing the joyful feeling of the opening.

 

3. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent

Luke 1:48

 

Soprano I -- accompanied only by an oboe d'amore and continuo -- sings this magnificent aria. Spitta:

 

"Scarcely ever has the idea of virgin purity, simplicity, and humble happiness found more perfect expression than in this picture of the Madonna, translated, as it were, into musical language."

 

4. omnes generationes

 

The completion of the sentence (all generations) is given to the chorus.

 

5. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen ejus
Luke 1:49

 

This short aria for bass is accompanied only by the continuo.

 

6. Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus eum

Luke 1:50

 

This exquisite duet (alto/tenor) is accompanied by muted strings and flute doubling, in a gentle 12/8 ... the vocalists frequently pause for instrumental sections.

7. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui
Luke 1:51

 

He shows Strength! All five voices repeat a melisma on the word potentiam, from tenor, alto, soprano II, bass and soprano I. The conclusion (mente cordis sui) is adagio, illustrated by long chords, with trumpet accents.

 

8. Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles
Luke 1:52

 

Tenor aria accompanied by unisono violins and continuo only.

 

9. Esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes
Luke 1:53

 

Alto aria, accompanied by two flutes and continuo. Stretch out your imagination and you can almost hear a jazz bass player, as the continuo plucks out notes in a steady on-the-beat rhythm! The flutes decorate the alto with compassionate word-painting (he has filled the hungry with good things) ...

10. Suscepit Israel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae
Luke 1:54

 

Here, Bach shows his mastery of composing just the right amount of orchestration -- this is a trio for the two soprani and alto, accompanied only by an oboe and a continuo of only cello.

What is of primary interest here is the oboe part, which is a cantus firmus of Luther's German translation of the Magnificat: Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (My soul exalts the Lord) -- from the original plainchant in the Aeolian mode (today's minor scale). Note how the chant starts on F-Sharp (dominant) and ends on B (tonic):

 

11. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini ejus in saecula
Luke 1:55

 

All five voices enter in a fugato from bottom to top. The complex part-writing is typical of Bach's genius in weaving the main motif in and out of a flowing accompaniment that is musical perfection.

 

12. Gloria Patri, et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Doxology

 

The complete ensemble concludes the work with a glorious fugato and then -- changing to a 3/4 meter, the second part of the text (Sicut erat ...) repeats material from the opening movement.

Marilyn Monroe as Chanteuse [by David Lehman]

We don't think of her as a singer, but Marilyn Monroe (whose birthday it is ) sang -- and sang well. Unlike Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak in Pal Joey, Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, she needed no dubbing. (They shouldn't have dubbed Ava Gardner in Show Boat but that's another story.) See Marilyn as the very embodiment of curvaceous sexuality in Niagara, or making the most of a minor role in The Asphalt Jungle, or fighting with her beau in Bus Stop, or teaming with Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, or joining Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor on the Irving Berlin bandwagon in There's No Business Like Show Business, or cavorting with cross-dressers Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot. She sings in each of these movies and the songs are noteworthy, each and all. 

Some songs with male chorus and big brass solos, such as "Heat Wave," are extravaganzas of sexual desire and energy. You can't keep your eyes off her, which is as it should be, but one consequence is that you don't hear enough of the voice. Her rendition of Irving Berlin's "After You Get What You Want You Don’t Want It," is a seductive masterpiece based on a profound insight into human nature. In her rendition of the same songwriter’s "Lazy," she lies on a divan while Donald O'Connor and Mitzi Gaynor dance around her. Mitzi is mighty pretty, mighty talented, but Marilyn is in a different league of voluptuousness.

Listen to her sing "I'm Through with Love," or "I Wanna Be Loved By You," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" or "Bye Bye, Baby" -- but listen to the songs without looking at the visuals. You'll hear a melodious voice of limited range, thin but accurate, with a husky low register, a breathy manner, and a rare gift of vibratro. When her voice trembles over a note -- over "you" or "baby" -- the effect is seductive and yet is almost a caricature of the seductress's vamp. The paradox of her singing is that she reveals her sexual power and flaunts her vulnerability -- to flip the usual order of those verbs. She can be intimate and ironic at the same time.

Compare her version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" with Carol Channing's definitive Broadway treatment, and you get the essential difference between theater and cinema, New York and Hollywood. Channing's is the superior theatrical experience: funny, charming, a show-stopper of the first order. But Channing serves the song where Monroe makes her songs sound like illustrations of her life. Monroe's treatment of "Diamonds" may not be as effective as Channing's in its service to Leo Robin's marvelous lyric for Jules Styne's delightful tune. But Monroe's version is younger, friskier, sexier. When she sings it, the song is about her. Music is the food of love, and sexual ecstasy is on the menu, for dessert.

Nowhere is she better than "I'm Through with Love," which she sings in Some Like It Hot. Gus Kahn's lyric, which rhymes "I'm through" with "adieu," is as apt for Marilyn as "Falling in Love Again" was for Marlene Dietrich. In "I'm Through with Love," the singer feigns nonchalance, affects an uncaring attitude. But melodically during the bridge, and lyrically in the line "for I must have you or no one," the song lets us know just how much she does care. Monroe implies this pathos in "I'm Through with Love" at the same time as she struts her stuff. She vows that she'll "never fall again" and forbids Love -- as if the abstraction stood for a Greek god or for the entire male sex -- to "ever call again." But we don't quite believe her, because we know temptation is just around the corner. In a sense, her voice thrusts out its hips when she sings. It's a feast for all the senses.

 -- DL   June 1, 2019; from the archive

Two Versions of "Espana"

Shostakovich: Tahiti Trot [by Lewis Saul]

SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Tahiti Trot (1928)
Staatsoper Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, cond.
(4:08)

Vincent Youmans composed Tea for Two for his musical No, No, Nanette in 1927.

 

Shostakovich and his friend, the conductor Nicolai Malko, recalled hearing the tune in '27 at the Meyerhold Theatre in Moscow in a play called Roar, China. In one of the scenes some Americans on a ship are dancing to the tune, which Malko recalled as being named Tahiti Trot. (It was -- of course -- Tea for Two.)

At some point before October, Malko jokingly suggested to Shostakovich that he should orchestrate Tea for Two and proposed a bet:

"If you, Mitenka, are as brilliant as they all say, then please go into the next room, write that song down from memory, orchestrate it, and I will play it. I will give you an hour to do this."

 

It only took Dmitri 45 minutes, and he dedicated the score to Malko as a "token of his best feelings."

The premiere at the Moscow Conservatory was on November 25, 1928. Then came the problems.

The Central Committee of the CPSU, People's Commissar of Education Anatol Lunacharsky said that no task was more urgent for Soviet culture than to rebuke the "aggressive, jazzy syncopations of the foxtrot."

 

"The bourgeoisie would like man to live not so much by his head as by his sexual organs. The fundamental element of the foxtrot derives from mechanization, suppressed eroticism, and a desire to deaden feeling through drugs. We do not need that kind of music."

Just-Say-No Anatol

 

By 1930, Shostakovich was furiously spinning his wheels repudiating the stupid thing. Letting Malko perform it had been a "political mistake." He had meant it as a movement for The Golden Age (1930, not likely) -- a satirical take on such music (it was censored anyways), and he kinda blamed Malko for the fiasco. [Nobody ever said Dmitri was perfect!]

The score was withdrawn and quickly forgotten until Gennady Rozhdestvensky  reconstructed it in 1984.