Resounding Verse

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Resounding Verse

Stephen Rodgers

22 episodes

5 months ago

I head back to university teaching tomorrow—and I know many teachers and students who are already back at it. In honor of this back-to-school season, here's an episode on a wild and wonderful song by New-York-based composers Lainie Fefferman and Jascha Narveson. In addition to composing a wide variety of music as individual artists, they are part of a synth-pop duo called The Beverage Station. The duo will release a full album, including this song, on May 30, 2025, from Gold Bolus Recordings....

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Music Commentary

Performing Arts,

All content for Resounding Verse is the property of Stephen Rodgers and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

I head back to university teaching tomorrow—and I know many teachers and students who are already back at it. In honor of this back-to-school season, here's an episode on a wild and wonderful song by New-York-based composers Lainie Fefferman and Jascha Narveson. In addition to composing a wide variety of music as individual artists, they are part of a synth-pop duo called The Beverage Station. The duo will release a full album, including this song, on May 30, 2025, from Gold Bolus Recordings....

Show more...

Music Commentary

Performing Arts,

Episodes (20/22)

Resounding Verse

Labor Day: Lainie Fefferman and Jascha Narveson

I head back to university teaching tomorrow—and I know many teachers and students who are already back at it. In honor of this back-to-school season, here's an episode on a wild and wonderful song by New-York-based composers Lainie Fefferman and Jascha Narveson. In addition to composing a wide variety of music as individual artists, they are part of a synth-pop duo called The Beverage Station. The duo will release a full album, including this song, on May 30, 2025, from Gold Bolus Recordings....

1 year ago

34 minutes

Resounding Verse

Frosty in Desire: William Shakespeare and Rodrigo Ruiz

On September 27, 2024, Signum Records will release a recording of Rodrigo Ruiz's cycle of seventeen songs, Venus & Adonis, based on William Shakespeare's poem of the same name. In this episode, I dive into one of my favorite songs from the cycle, where Venus takes Adonis's hand and entreats him to open his heart to her. For more information about Rodrigo Ruiz, you can find him on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkTree. You can also learn more about his songs from this page on my ...

1 year ago

29 minutes

Resounding Verse

Alleluia: Nathaniel Bellows and Sarah Kirkland Snider

The Mass for the Endangered, by Nathaniel Bellows and Sarah Kirkland Snider, appeals not to God but to nature itself and (in Snider's words) takes the "musical modes of spiritual contemplation" associated with the Latin mass and applies them to "concern for non-human life—animals, plants, and the environment." The third movement of the Mass, "Alleluia," describes the brutal destruction of the natural world yet at the same time offers a promise of renewal. The episode features a recording o...

1 year ago

39 minutes

Resounding Verse

You're the One: Rhiannon Giddens

The title track from Rhiannon Giddens's recent album You're the One—which was just released by Nonesuch Records—is a love song, but not one about two adults; it's about a moment Giddens experienced with her newborn son, pressing her cheek against his and realizing that her world would never be the same again. In this episode I reference a book by Matt BaileyShea called Lines and Lyrics: An Introduction to Poetry and Song. If you're interested in learning more about how words and music relate...

2 years ago

30 minutes

Resounding Verse

Songe (Dream): Maurice Bouchor and Mel Bonis

Have you ever felt as though a single moment—gazing into someone's eyes, listening to a passage of music, looking at a landscape—transports you to another realm? Maurice Bouchor's poem is about just this kind of experience, an experience that the French composer Mel Bonis transforms into a magical sound world that deftly blends Romanticism and Impressionism. The episode features a recording of the song by Hélène Guilmette and Matin Dubé, from an album called L'Heure Rose. For more informat...

2 years ago

33 minutes

Resounding Verse

In Fountain Court: Arthur Symons and Elizabeth Maconchy

Arthur Symons's poem captures a lazy June afternoon, with a fountain burbling and the moon hanging in the sky, waiting for the coming of night. Elizabeth Maconchy transforms the poem into a song of mesmerizing stillness and beauty. The episode features a world-premiere recording by soprano Joanna Songi and pianist Matthew Fletcher, based on an unpublished manuscript found in the Maconchy archive at St. Hilda's College, Oxford. You can find a YouTube video of their performance here. For an i...

2 years ago

28 minutes

Resounding Verse

Resevwa Li (Receive Them): A Haitian Hymn Reimagined by Nathalie Joachim

The Haitian-American composer Nathalie Joachim transforms a Haitian hymn, and in so doing creates a multi-layered tapestry of sound that evokes the many voices of Haiti—past, present, and future. "Resevwa Li" comes from Joachim's Grammy-nominated 2019 album Fanm d'Ayiti (New Amsterdam Records), featuring the Spektral Quartet. Resevwa Li Men n’ap proche devan ou Granmèt Avèk tout ti kado n yo papa Li mèt tout piti kou li ye, Tanpri resevwa li Adye papa souple Kisa pou m ta ba ou Ou ki fè to...

2 years ago

33 minutes

Resounding Verse

One by One: Connie Converse

Connie Converse was one of the first singer-songwriters, an uncommon talent who predated Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. But she was barely known in her day, and after making a handful of low-fi recordings in the 1950s, she disappeared in 1974. Her songs weren't widely known until some of those low-fi recordings were released on CD in 2009. This episode looks at one of her most affecting songs, which appears on Walking in the Dark, a recent album by soprano Julia Bullock, in an arrangement by Jeremy...

2 years ago

38 minutes

Resounding Verse

Letzter Wunsch (Last Wish): Julius Sturm and Marie von Kehler

We know very little about the German composer Marie von Kehler (1822–1882), who served as a "lady in waiting" to a princess and seems to have been acquainted with Johannes Brahms. But we do know that she wrote over eighty songs that were published over a decade after her death—none of which had ever been recorded until Stephan Loges and Jocelyn Freeman recorded four of them for my website Art Song Augmented. This episode looks at one of the best Kehler song's, a setting of a poem by Julius St...

2 years ago

28 minutes

Resounding Verse

Firmament: Carolyn Forché and Caroline Shaw

Carolyn Forché's 46-page poem "On Earth" forms the basis for a song cycle called The Blue Hour, which was composed by five women—Caroline Shaw, Shara Nova, Rachel Grimes, Angelica Negrón, and Sarah Kirkland Snider—and just released on CD this month by Nonesuch and New Amsterdam Records. This episode looks at one of Caroline Shaw's contributions to the cycle, a song that embraces Bach and plainchant and, in just over three minutes, captures the immensity of time and the cosmos. The episode...

3 years ago

36 minutes

Resounding Verse

Nous nous aimerons tant (We Will Love Each Other So Much): Francis Jammes and Lili Boulanger

Francis Jammes's poem depicts two lovers who sit on a bench, alone together under the shade of overhanging branches. But it's not clear if the scene is real or imaginary. In her setting of the text, Lili Boulanger heightens the poem's sense of mystery—and also the poetic speaker's anxiety that the blissful moment may only be a figment of his imagination. You can find the score to Boulanger's song here. The episode features the a recording of the song by tenor Nicholas Phan and pianist Myra ...

3 years ago

33 minutes

Resounding Verse

Afterglow: Thomas Walsh and Mary Turner Salter

Thomas Walsh's poem and Mary Turner Salter's setting of it capture the moment between day and night—and the desire to linger in that moment as long as possible. The episode features the first-ever recording of Mary Turner Salter's "Afterglow," performed by soprano Camille Ortiz and pianist Gustavo Castro and engineered by Joseph Wenda. I commissioned the recording for Art Song Augmented, my website devoted to art songs by underrepresented composers. Learn more about Salter's songs, access he...

3 years ago

21 minutes

Resounding Verse

The River: Nathaniel Bellows and Sarah Kirkland Snider

Nathaniel Bellows’ poem and Sarah Kirkland Snider's haunting setting of it—from her song cycle Unremembered—revisit the site of a childhood trauma and meditate on innocence and the mechanisms of memory. The performance of the song features vocalists Padma Newsome, DM Stith, and Shara Worden, and the Unremembered Orchestra (members of ACME, Alarm Will Sound, ICE, The Knights, and Sō Percussion), conducted by Edwin Outwater. In the episode I discuss Nathaniel Bellows' illustration that...

4 years ago

29 minutes

Resounding Verse

Room in Brooklyn/A Gradual Dazzle: Anne Carson and Caroline Shaw

Anne Carson's poem and Caroline Shaw's mesmerizing setting of it meditate on the feeling of being in and out of time. The recording of the song, which appears on the album Let The Soil Play Its Simple Part (Nonesuch, 2021), features Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion (Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting).

4 years ago

29 minutes

Resounding Verse

Sag, wo ist dein schönes Liebchen (Tell Me, Where is Your Beautiful Sweetheart): Heinrich Heine and Rodrigo Ruiz

The 21st-century Mexican composer Rodrigo Ruiz sets a text by the 19th-century German writer Heinrich Heine. In so doing, Ruiz channels 19th-century musical style and offers a deeply moving interpretation of a poem about the loss of love and the death of an artistic tradition that Heine once held dear. The performance of the song features soprano Grace Davidson and pianist Christopher Glynn. The song appears on the CD An Everlasting Dawn. Check out Ruiz's recent CD of chamber works, B...

4 years ago

26 minutes

Resounding Verse

Strawberry Man: Kendra Preston Leonard and Lisa Neher

Kendra Preston Leonard's poem and Lisa Neher's song—about a man who sells fresh fruit on a summer day—celebrate something sumptuous where we would least expect it. The performance of the song is by Arwen Myers, who is also featured in a previous episode about a song by Florence Price. Be sure to check out other collaborations by Kendra Preston Leonard and Lisa Neher, especially the works in their micro-opera festival. Strawberry Man by Kendra Preston Leonard The Strawberry Man...

4 years ago

21 minutes

Resounding Verse

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: Robert Frost and Margaret Bonds

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is one of the most famous poems in the English language, and it has been set to music by many composers. This episode explores an extraordinarily inventive setting by the Black American composer Margaret Bonds (1913–1972), recently recorded by bass-baritone Justin Hopkins and pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers. This recording comes from a playlist created by Hopkins and Cilliers, which includes performances of music by Florence Price and Marg...

4 years ago

28 minutes

Resounding Verse

To My Little Son: Julia Johnson Davis and Florence Price

In Julia Johnson Davis's poem "To My Little Son," a mother imagines what her baby boy will look like when he's twenty-one years old, and wonders whether, when he's grown up, she'll see glimmers of the boy in the man. Thinking of her own son, Florence Price turned to Davis's poem and created a song that is nuanced, affecting, and deeply personal. The recording of “To My Little Son” is by soprano Arwen Myers and pianist Monica Ohuchi. Learn more about Price's songs, access scores, and hear ...

4 years ago

22 minutes

Resounding Verse

Branch by Branch: Edna St. Vincent Millay and H. Leslie Adams

The protagonist in Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem looks upon a tree that has died and wonders what caused it to wither. She stands apart from the scene, awed and perplexed, but at a crucial moment enters the scene and takes a decisive action. In H. Leslie Adams's song, that action seems even more decisive—and even more brutal. The recording of "Branch by Branch" is by Darryl Taylor and Robin Guy, and comes from a CD called Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams. Branch by Branch by Edna St...

4 years ago

23 minutes

Resounding Verse

Scheideblick (Parting Glance): Nikolaus Lenau and Josephine Lang

In Nikolaus Lenau's poem "Scheideblick" (Parting Glance) a man leaves his beloved and, as he departs, imagines sinking his happiness into the ocean. Josephine's Lang's setting of the poem evokes the ebb and flow of the sea, and also the ebb and flow of the emotions associated with it. For more on Josephine Lang, see Harald and Sharon Krebs's book Josephine Lang: Her Life and Songs. The recording of “Scheideblick” is by mezzo-soprano Milagro Vargas and pianist Susan Manoff. Learn more abo...

4 years ago

22 minutes