So Lit Song Lit

Siegfried Wagner, the oldest son of Richard Wagner, was surrounded by some of the most important musicians in Europe (including his grandfather, Franz Liszt), and his compositional style is influenced by all of them. He also composed operas and was artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival in the early 1900s.

His songs are collected in Sämtliche Klavierlieder--Volume 1 is the high key, and Volume 2 is the medium key of the same songs.

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

• Frühlingsglaube
• Nacht am Narocz
• Ein Hochzeitslied

Recorded 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  their 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 find out more about Zach on his website, https://www.zacharydeansmith.com/

Better known in his home country of France than in the United States, Henri Sauguet has over 200 Mélodies, many of which have not yet been recorded. His music is characterised by its simplicity (even when using polytonality!) and clarity.

His music is published by Salabert and distributed through Presto Music--the scores we used for today's episode are Mélodies et chansons and Visions infernales, and there are several other sets of songs by Sauguet on that site. To see a more comprehensive list of his art songs, check out his listing on Liedernet.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Zachary Dean Smith, tenor, Troy Cook, baritone, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• Iles
• Comme à la lumière de la lune
• La ceinture
• Le petit paysan (Visions infernales)

Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about  their 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 find out more about Zach on his website, https://www.zacharydeansmith.com/

You can find out more about Troy Cook on his website, https://www.troycookbaritone.com/

Charles Tomlinson Griffes is best known for his song "The Lament of Ian the Proud", but he has many more art songs and German Lieder to his credit. Having studied with Engelbert Humperdinck for a time, his German Lieder have an intense German sound, while many of his English songs have a definite French influence.

"In a Myrtle Shade" and "Symphony in Yellow" are in the book Songs of C.T. Griffes Vol. 1 (available at Classical Vocal Reprints), as is "The Lament of Ian the Proud". There is also a Vol. 2 in that series with different songs for medium voice, while Vol. 3 has several of his German Lieder, including "Wohl lag' ich einst" and one of my favorites, "Nacht liegt auf den fremden Wegen". "Cleopatra to the Asp" is in Seven Songs. To see a more comprehensive list of his art songs, check out his listing on Liedernet.

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

• Wohl lag' ich einst
• In a Myrtle Shade
• Symphony in Yellow
• Cleopatra to the Asp

Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about  their 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 find out more about Zach on his website, https://www.zacharydeansmith.com/

Season 2 drops starting August 17th! This season Toni Marie and Ellen are focusing on queer composers, with guest host Zachary Dean Smith. Make sure to subscribe and tell all your friends, colleagues, and students!

For the last episode of the season, we wanted to present a special topic: Vocalises! Not just for warming up, they can be incredible pieces for an audience as well. This episode covers the Fauré and Copland vocalises, as well as Turina's Op.74, his song cycle Vocalizaciones, with special guest, Jennifer Aylmer, Associate Professor of Voice at Carnegie Mellon University.

Since recording the podcast we've found a couple of other cycles of vocalises, including Daniel Pinkham's Vowels and Prokofiev's Op. 35  Пять песен вез слов (Five Songs without Words--also often performed by violinists). Let us know if you find any others!

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

• Fauré: Vocalise-étude
• Copland: Vocalise
• Turina: Vocalizaciones, Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 6

Recorded at The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

Season 2 will begin on August 17, 2023, and will focus on LGBTQ+ composers.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about  their 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

Ellen was first introduced to the music of Daniel Pinkham by tenor Kenneth Riegel (who played Don Ottavio in the 1979 movie with Raimondi). Pinkham taught composition at New England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory for six decades, but he also had a church job, so many of his works have a religious element like his Three Songs from Ecclesiastes. The score is available from Sheet Music Plus.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Michael Vallikappil, tenor (Instagram @mgvtenor), and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• I. Vanity of vanities
• II. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy
• III. To every thing there is a season

Performances recorded at Carnegie Mellon University's Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA. Jingle and theme music recorded at The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

***

So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about their 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

Le Chevalier de St. Georges, Joseph Bologne, composed many songs, which are now being compiled by New York-based conductor Tyson Deaton! These pieces are the perfect way to introduce young singers to French repertoire and help them get comfortable with the language before venturing into more advanced tonalities. Anyone interested in purchasing these songs can contact Tyson through his website.

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

• Complainte de Marie Stuart
• Dans un bois solitaire
• En vain des torments

Recorded at The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

***

So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about their 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

There are only 17 extant songs by Alma Mahler (wife of Gustav), and her Fünf Lieder were the first pieces she had published. They are available in Alma Mahler: Sämtliche Lieder (Selected Songs) from Stanton's Sheet Music.

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

• Die stille Stadt
• Laue Sommernacht
• Ich wandle unter Blumen

Recorded at The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

***

So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about their 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

Jennifer Aylmer, Associate Professor of Voice at Carnegie Mellon University, joins us to discuss Ildebrando Pizzetti's Cinque liriche. The score is available at SheetMusicPlus.

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

• 1. I pastori
• 3. San Basilio
• 5. Passeggiata
• 4. Il cleft progione

Recorded at The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about  their 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

Composer Reinhold Glière is lesser-known even in Russia, but his songs are well worth digging into! They are available through IMSLP; since recording this episode, IMSLP now has the disclaimer that only the pieces before 1928 are public domain in the US, which seems to include all of his Romances (Russian art songs). If you are interested in the Azerbaijani traditional opera style that he created, the aria from Shakh-senem is available on YouTube.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Maika Madison, baritone, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• Я Атлас (I, Atlas)
• Русалка (Rusalka)
• Как светла, как нарядна весна (How light and elegant is the spring)    

Performances recorded at Carnegie Mellon University's Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and The Camp Recording Studio in Elizabethtown, PA.

***

So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about their 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