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Artists
Contents: Heggie: He’s gone away Copland: Old American Songs, Set 2: No. 1, The Little Horses Ching-a-Ring At the River Zion’s Walls In the Fields Barber: Bessie Bobtail I hear an army Sure on this shining night, Op. 13 No. 3 Rain has fallen Heggie: To say before going to sleep White in the moon The leather-winged bat Barb’ry Allen Barber: Sleep Now Hoiby: Winter song Duke, J W: Twentieth Century Hoiby: A letter Hundley: The Astronomers Aborn: T’is winter now Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day Make me an instrument of thy peace Niles: Black is the color of my true love’s hair Robert Abramson: “Soldier, soldier” Duke, J W: Heart! We will forget him! Naginski: Richard Cory Niles: Fee simple Ives, C: My native land The Things our Fathers Loved Memories : I Very Pleasant The composition of art songs has played a part in the United States’ cultural history from the outset. The very first pieces of newly composed secular music to be published in the United States were art songs. These were the Seven Songs by Hopkinson – a signatory of the Declaration of Independence in 1788. In the 1920s Copland set out to acquire an identifiable American sound and in 1950/52 he published two collections of Old American Songs. Niles had a brief career as an opera singer. He assumes a more self-effacing stance vis-à-vis the original songs of Copland or Heggie, whose settings fuse a distinctive personality with an absolute respect for the sources. Barber stood apart from his contemporaries, composing essentially conservative music that revelled in its European roots. One of the few notable composers to be trained to a professional level as a singer, he wrote melodies that are always gracious to the voice. Less well-known composers also made important contributions to the mid-century repertoire; John Duke, Lora Aborn & Charles Naginski.
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