So Lit Song Lit

Valerie Capers (b. 1935) was Juilliard's first blind student pianist, earning both her bachelor's and master's degrees there, and at the encouragement of her brother has gone on to become a noted jazz pianist (if you want to hear her play, check out this YouTube video). Song of the Seasons is her only song cycle, and it definitely should be in the standard repertoire! She also composed an operatorio based on the life of Sojourner Truth.

Our special guest today is Dr. Louise Toppin, a coloratura soprano who has sung all over the world, who teaches at University of Michigan, and who also runs Videmus, a non-profit arts organisation that produces concerts and recordings.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Aliyah Quill, soprano, Rachel Boll, cello, and Ellen Rissinger, piano:

Song of the Seasons:

• I Spring
• IV Winter
• II Summer
• III Autumn

Recorded at  the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

The African American Art Song Alliance has the complete recording of Anita Johnson singing Song of the Seasons with Timothy Holley on cello and Susan Gray on piano, the recording that Louise mentioned at the start of the episode!

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So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

Aliyah Quill and Rachel Boll are students of Carnegie Mellon University.

John D. Carter's Cantata was premiered in 1959 by Leontyne Price and David Garvey. A great pianist in his own right, Carter's song cycle is challenging for the pianist as well as the singer, with rhythmic displacements and dissonances that bring the melodies of the spirituals he chose into the classical realm. Our guest today, Dr. Casey Robards, earned her doctorate with a dissertation on John D. Carter. Be sure to check out Casey Robards' new CD with Kenneth Overton: What Dreams We Have: The Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar! 

We also talk about Cecil Cohen, a pianist and composer who led a fascinating life including fighting on the front lines in WWI and performing his own music for the Roosevelts. He spent 30 years on the faculty of Howard University teaching piano, and has few extent songs, but this one is a powerhouse.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Solomon Onyukwu, baritone, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist (click on the titles for purchase information):

John D. Carter: Cantata

• 1: Prelude (piano solo)
• 4: Air (Let Us Break Bread Together)
• 5: Toccata (Ride On, King Jesus)

Cecil Cohen, from The Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers

• Death of an Old Seaman (Langston Hughes text)

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA and at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

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So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

Solomon Onyukwu is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

H. Leslie Adams (1932-2024) is best-known for his vocal compositions, with a large output of art songs and song cycles to choose from, and his works have been performed all over the world. His music is accessible to audiences and performers alike, and our guest today, countertenor Darryl Taylor, of the African American Art Song Alliance, offers amazing insight into Leslie as a person and a composer, as well as shows us the deeper meaning in the songs we discuss.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, Donovan Elliot Smith, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

Five Millay Songs (click on the titles for purchase information)

• For You There Is No Song

Nightsongs

• Creole Girl
• Prayer

Collected Songs (several of the songs come in more than one key in this volume!)

• Love Memory
• Amazing Grace

Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA, the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and The Church Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

Darryl Taylor has recorded all of these songs as well:

• For You There Is No Song
• Creole Girl
• Prayer
• Love Memory
• Amazing Grace

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, visit his website.

You can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.

Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) is probably best known for her setting of "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands", but has an extensive repertoire of art songs, which have a lot more crunch than most people expect!

Our special guest hosts today are baritone Lester Lynch, who balances his international career with teaching at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and composer M. Roger Holland II, from the University of Denver, who runs The Spirituals Project and composed Ubuntu: I Am Because You Are, premiered by Kantorei (as soon as there is a clip, we will add this to the show notes!).

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Gracyn Blu Louis, mezzo-soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

from Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay

• Even In The Moment (performed by Toni)
• What Lips My Lips Have Kissed (performed by Toni)
• Women Have Loved Before As I Love Now (performed by Gracyn)

You can also find more of Bonds' songs in the anthology Rediscovering Margaret Bonds.

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at https://cincysong.transistor.fm/.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Gracyn Blu Louis, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynblu

Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004) decided to become a classical pianist when she heard Hazel Harrison (the first Black musician to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic) in concert, and went on to study with R. Nathaniel Dett! She became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, who helped fund her studies. Her songs have a distinct sound, with some dissonance and notes of counterpoint and a level of interest in the piano parts that makes them fun for the singer and the pianist.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Donovan Elliot Smith, tenor, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

From Threnody

• Threnody

From Songs on Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar

• Sunset
• Life

Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA, and the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

You can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.

Howard Swanson (1907-1978) studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and went on to study at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger. He was close with poet Langston Hughes and his settings of Hughes' texts are considered definitive. Swanson has a unique sound, which makes his music well-suited for more mature musicians, but is still very accessible for an audience. 

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Donovan Elliot Smith, tenor, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• One Day from Songs for Patricia
• Goodnight from Songs for Patricia
• Prelude 1 from Four Preludes

We also mentioned his settings of Langston Hughes texts, many of which are performed on this episode of Song of America radio series.

UPDATE: We updated this episode to include a clip from a performance of Swanson's The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Nicolas Newton, bass-baritone, and Blair Salter, pianist, from the archives of Cincinnati Song Initiative!

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

You can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.

For information on Nicolas Newton, see his website.

For information on Blair Salter, see her website.

Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) was a classical pianist who trained at several prestigious universities, and despite her professors urging her to become a professional, she chose to become a public school music teacher and professor. She preferred to compose vocal music; her songs have a sweep and line to them that make them a joy to play and sing.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Gracyn Blu Louis, mezzo-soprano, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

From An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs

• I Want To Die While You Love Me (sung by Gracyn)
• I Am In Doubt (sung by Toni Marie)

From the Anthology of Art Songs by Black Composers

• Love Let The Wind Cry... How I Adore Thee (sung by Toni Marie)

Recorded at Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynblu

Known as a symphonic composer, Florence Price was the first African-American female to have one of her composition performed by a major orchestra in the US. Her music was rediscovered in 2009 in her old summer home, which has led to many of her works being recently published and premiered. Also an excellent pianist, her art songs include some virtuostic playing for the pianist, along with melodies that capture the text in a way that feels very immediate and can work anywhere in a recital.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, Gracyn Blu Louis, mezzo-soprano, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• Hold Fast to Dreams (sung by Ricky)
• Night (sung by Gracyn)
• The Heart of a Woman (sung by Toni Marie)
• Dawn's Awakening (sung by Gracyn)
• An April Day (sung by Toni Marie)

Score are available from Classical Vocal Reprints:

• 44 Art Songs and Spirituals
• The Heart of a Woman

We also mentioned our CSI colleague Karen Slack, soprano, who has the video podcast KikiConversations on YouTube - she has a new CD out of unpublished Florence Price songs with pianist Michelle Cann entitled Beyond the Years.

Recorded at The Church Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, visit his website.

For more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynblu

William Grant Still (1895-1978) was the first African-American to have a symphony performed by a major US orchestra (Symphony No. 1-"Afro-American" in 1931), to have an opera performed by a major US opera house (Troubled Island by New York City Opera in 1949), to conduct a major US orchestra (the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra in 1955), and to have an opera performed on television (A Bayou Legend in 1981). His songs have a very American sound, with hints of French harmonies and spirituals.

Our special guest hosts today are baritone Lester Lynch, who balances his international career with teaching at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and composer M. Roger Holland, II, from the University of Denver, who runs The Spirituals Project and composed Ubuntu: I Am Because You Are, premiered by Kantorei (as soon as there is a clip, we will add this to the show notes!).

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Aliyah Quill, soprano, Solomon Onyukwu, baritone, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist (click on the titles for purchase information):

Songs of Separation:

• Idolatry
• Poème
• Parted

from the anthology William Grant Still: An Art Song Collection:

• Bayou Home
• Citadel

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

Aliyah Quill and Solomon Onyukwu are students/graduates of Carnegie Mellon University.

R. Nathaniel Dett was a Canadian-American composer and concert pianist with a degree from Oberlin College. His arrangements of spirituals use the piano to great effect in bringing out the text--he also has an extensive repertoire of choral music. Hall Johnson was a professional violinist/violist who formed many choirs, the most famous of which (the Hall Johnson Choir) sang on over 30 major motion pictures (including several Disney films!). His Ride On, King Jesus should be a staple of the canon.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

Dett (click on the titles for score information):

• Follow Me
• Somebody's Knocking At Your Door
• I'm So Glad Trouble Don't Last Alway

Johnson:

• Ride On, King Jesus

Recorded at The Church Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, visit his website.