Winds and Poetry

Poetry and music have come together as perfect companions for ages: two separate art forms that have been intertwined throughout centuries. It’s no wonder, then, that composers have often turned to the writing of poets not just for inspiration to compose non-vocal music – such as Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn” – but also for setting text to music.

Michael Daugherty’s work, “Labyrinth of Love” examines and adapts the poetry of eight women across time and space: with text dating back to Greek poet Sappho, who lived in the 6th Century BC, to the writing of living Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson. It’s a work that, in the composer’s words, “is full of bitterness, desire, longing, ecstasy, irony, tenderness, despair, hope, sadness and humor.”

It’s part of a program of Winds and Poetry, featuring recently composed works that bring to life the words of poets like Emily Dickinson, Sara Teasdale, and more.

Opening the program is a set of works performed by Tucscon’s True Concord. In April 2021, the ensemble presented a program titled “The Trailblazers,” with music setting the text of trailblazing women poets and writers. This program grouped pieces based off of particular themes like the Divine Feminine, Remembering Those We’ve Lost, Rising Up, and more. This broadcast begins with some selections from this concert, which took place at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in April 2021… including music touching on the themes of Nature’s Beauty and A New Day Dawning. Then, a pair of Michael Daugherty pieces for soprano and wind ensemble, including his “Labyrinth of Love,” and a work titled “Songs from a Silent Land.” Its three movements are songs inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Christina Rosetti, with Daugherty noting that the words and music reflect on this world and the possibility of a next world.