CELEBRATING POETRY IN MUSIC

by Peter J. Bilotta

The first piece in our final concert last summer was the opening string sextet of Richard Strauss’s opera, Capriccio, in which a poet and composer both court a countess who is asked to decide which she prefers: music or poetry. She cannot decide because each is essential and, when paired, they are equally interdependent and magical.

It is virtually impossible to separate music and poetry, for they have been intertwined for thousands of years. In antiquity, poems were often sung. The first lyric poets in ancient Greece performed their work to the accompaniment of the lyre, and the oldest anthology of Chinese poetry, the Shijing, was a collection of songs. In Europe’s Middle Ages the popularity of troubadour poets granted them unprecedented freedom of speech and social influence during that time, and their lyrical work went on to influence European music and poetry for centuries.

“If I had my life to live over again I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.”

– Charles Darwin

“Poetry is the seed of every song ever written. Whether it's somebody rapping or singing or it being spoken, it's a poem there.”

– J. Ivy

How and why have poetry and music flourished in such an enduring marriage for centuries? Perhaps it is because many of the greatest poems ever written—which might otherwise have been lost under stacks of paper— were immortalized by composers like Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Brahms to be sung. Their transcendent songs give birth to a plethora of new meaning when expressed in both music and words by the human voice. The combination penetrates our souls and emotions in ways that mere words or notes alone cannot express. This summer, we’ll hear poetic song cycles not only from these masters, but also the world premieres of new voices Kian Ravaei, Wang Jie, and Chris Rogerson, all of which were commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest.

It could be that artists of both art forms have endlessly inspired each other to create. T. S. Eliot was moved to write The Wasteland after hearing Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Stéphane Mallarmé's poetry inspired not only Claude Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, but also Maurice Ravel’s Trois poèmes de Mallarmé. From Mozart’s operas and Beethoven’s symphonies, to Emily Dickinson’s alliterative style (still used by rappers today) and 2023 Grammy Awardwinning poet J. Ivy’s hip hop-inspired spoken word, composers and poets continually feed off of each other’s creative brilliance. Festival-goers this summer will experience this interplay firsthand with The Anchoress, collaboratively created by composer David Serkin Ludwig and Oregon-born poet Katie Ford. Maybe the enduring ballet between these art forms is just because poetry and music make perfect dance partners.

Antonio Vivaldi’s immensely popular set of violin concertos celebrating the Four Seasons were originally paired with four corresponding seasonal sonnets—and they may have been written by the composer himself! Fast forward to today and we can explore this same kind of perfect pairing in Valerie Coleman’s Portraits of Langston, with each of the six movements preceded by the Langston Hughes poem that inspired it. The relationship between music and poetry is so strong that it has survived the ages—and continues to thrive. Today’s composers and poets draw on the forms and rhythms of different musical and spoken word traditions, from classical to jazz, rap and hip hop, to folk and country music.

“Poetry is music for the human voice.

Until you actually speak it or someone speaks it, IT has not come into its own.”

– Maya Angelou

The concerts and events celebrating Poetry in Music are made possible by your contributions, alongside other Oregonians', to the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Our thanks to the incredible musicians, composers, poets, and our wonderful partners at Literary Arts, as this summer we get to experience majestic music, exquisite poetry, and the magic of Poetry in Music.