Composer

:

Harrison Birtwistle

Genre

:

Vocal

Style

:

Vocal Music

Average_duration

:

12:45

Movement_count

:

9

Movement ....

Settings (9) of Lorine Niedecker is a song cycle composed by Harrison Birtwistle in 2007. The piece was premiered on October 26, 2007, at the Wigmore Hall in London, with soprano Claire Booth and pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen. The cycle consists of nine songs, each setting a poem by the American poet Lorine Niedecker. The poems are short and concise, often focusing on nature and the natural world. Birtwistle's settings are similarly spare and economical, with the piano providing a sparse and angular accompaniment to the vocal line. The first song, "Paean to Place," sets the tone for the cycle, with its evocation of the natural world and its sense of wonder and awe. The second song, "My Life by Water," is more introspective, with the singer reflecting on her own life and mortality. The third song, "Wintergreen Ridge," is more abstract, with the singer evoking the landscape through a series of fragmented images. The fourth song, "Lake Superior," is perhaps the most dramatic of the cycle, with the singer evoking the power and majesty of the lake through a series of vivid images. The fifth song, "The Condor," is more playful, with the singer imitating the bird's call and movement. The sixth song, "The Blue Jay," is similarly playful, with the singer evoking the bird's mischievousness and energy. The seventh song, "The Buck in the Snow," is more somber, with the singer reflecting on the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. The eighth song, "The Old Wife," is more mystical, with the singer evoking the wisdom and power of the natural world. The final song, "Paean to Place (reprise)," brings the cycle full circle, with the singer returning to the sense of wonder and awe that opened the piece. Overall, Settings (9) of Lorine Niedecker is a spare and evocative cycle, with Birtwistle's music perfectly complementing Niedecker's concise and powerful poetry. The cycle is a testament to the power of simplicity and economy in music and poetry alike.

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