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TR570
Dreaming: Songs of Lori Laitman
Jennifer Check
soprano
Patricia Green
mezzo-soprano
Sari Gruber
soprano
Randall Scarlata
baritone
William Sharp
baritone
Gary Karr
doublebass
Warren Jones
piano
Lori Laitman
piano
LORI LAITMAN
Lori Laitman is an art song composer whose works are performed widely in the United States and abroad. Performances of her music have taken place at The Skylight Opera Theatre (Wisconsin), Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall and Alice Tully Hall (New York), Shriver Hall (Maryland), Benaroya Hall (Washington), The Cleveland Institute of Art, The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Corcoran Gallery and The Kennedy Center (D.C.), and The Gilmore International Keyboard Festival (Michigan). Ms. Laitman has composed song cycles for soprano Lauren Wagner; mezzo-soprano Patricia Green; baritones Kurt Ollmann, Stephen Salters, Randall Scarlata, William Sharp, and Sanford Sylvan; and countertenor David Daniels, among others. In 1992 and 2001, Ms. Laitman was the featured American composer at Strathmore Hall in Maryland, and she was a 1993 fellow at The Charles Ives Center for American Music. Winner of the Boston Art Song Competition (2000), she also received the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Music Composition in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003.
Ms. Laitman has served as composer-in-residence at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and as guest artist at The Grandin Festival (associated with The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music), where students performed a concert of her vocal chamber works. Named by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association as the 2002 Composer of the Year, Ms. Laitman traveled to Kearney to attend the premiere of “Within These Spaces,” commissioned by the Nebraska MTA, and to give talks on her music at the University of Nebraska. The Emily Dickinson International Society featured performances of and panels on Ms. Laitman's settings of Dickinson's poetry. Orchestra New England, conducted by James Sinclair, and baritone Anton Belov recently premiered two newly orchestrated songs. In June 2004, The Cleveland Opera will present “Come to Me in Dreams,” a dramatization of Ms. Laitman's songs, written by the Opera's General Director, David Bamberger.
Ms. Laitman's reviews have been glowing in the U.S. and abroad. The New York Times called her songs “especially effective,” and The Washington Post praised her musical “depth and intrigue.” Phonogram Magazine singled out Ms. Laitman's debut song, The Metropolitan Tower, declaring that “The CD is worth owning for this song alone: magnificent!” The online edition of Opera News wrote, “It's a treat to hear contemporary art songs that showcase the voice as flatteringly as these, and which retain individuality and surprise without sacrificing accessibility.”
Lori Laitman was graduated magna cum laude with honors in music from Yale College. She received her M.M. in flute performance from the Yale School of Music. Her principal composition teachers were Jonathan Kramer and Frank Lewin. Ms. Laitman's initial focus was composing music for film and theatre, and in 1980 she wrote the score for The Taming of the Shrew for the Folger Theatre in Washington. Since 1991 she has concentrated on composing for the voice. Her debut CD, “Mystery - The Songs of Lori Laitman,” was released August 1, 2000, on the Albany Records label, to critical acclaim .
Ms. Laitman's music is published by E.C. Schirmer, Arsis Press, and Enchanted Knickers Music, and distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Her website is www.artsongs.com.
Four Dickinson Songs
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Poems by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Premiere: October 26, 1996. Sumner School Museum, Washington, DC. Melissa Coombs, soprano, Lori Laitman, piano.
In the spring of 1996 I composed Four Dickinson Songs. The combination of these poems allows for dramatic musical contrasts within the cycle. The wistful Will There Really Be A Morning? gives way to the humorous and bouncy I'm Nobody. The elegiac ambience of She Died is created by a spare opening piano accompaniment that later alternates with fluid meters. If I... was composed as a gift for my father's 80th birthday. Its simple, accessible melody passes from voice to piano and back again before ending with the singer humming.
Men with Small Heads
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: May 20, 2001, Strathmore Hall, N. Bethesda, MD. Randall Scarlata, baritone, Lori Laitman, piano. Poems by Thomas Lux.
My daughter Diana introduced me to the work of Thomas Lux, one of her favorite poets. When I first read “Men with Small Heads” I thought the text might be impossible to set to music. However, as I delved further into Mr. Lux's poems I came to appreciate their incredible structure, and my imagination ran wild. Several musical motifs dominate and unify Men with Small Heads. (The piano quotation of America The Beautiful at the end is intentional.) Refrigerator, 1957 is a musical fantasy. Reminiscent of French songs, the opening veers into a 3/4 section as the subject, “maraschino cherries,” is introduced. A parody of Italian opera (combined with other humorous tidbits) leads to a lyric and touching close. Imitation figures prominently in A Small Tin Parrot Pin as the piano punctuates the singer's offbeat observations. Snake Lake uses hissing to emphasize the recurring “s” sound in the poem. The “squiggly” musical figures employed in both voice and piano symbolize swimming and water, and the accented notes are meant to portray the lurking danger—and sting—of a snake bite.
Sunflowers
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: December 10, 1999, Sumner School Museum, Washington, DC. Adelaide Whitaker, soprano, Gillian Cookson, piano. Poems by Mary Oliver.
Adelaide Whitaker commissioned this song cycle as a gift to her voice teacher Thomas Houser, who introduced her to the joys of poetry and specifically to the poetry of Mary Oliver. Mary Oliver's work presented unique challenges because her poems were longer and more complex than much of the poetry I had previously set. Richly atmospheric, these songs run the gamut of tempos and moods. The Sunflowers opens with a swaying piano accompaniment meant to portray sunflowers standing in a field. The surreal ambience of Dreams is created by a hypnotic accompaniment and weaving vocal line. Sunrise opens with a descending melody and expands into sweeping lyric lines supported by an arpeggiated piano accompaniment.
Holocaust 1944
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: November 6, 2000, Music of Remembrance Series, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA. Erich Parce, baritone, Gary Karr, doublebass. David Vogel's “How Can I See You, Love” in the translation of A.C. Jacobs, © 1996 The Menard Press (on behalf of the late translator's estate). The translation is included in Collected Poems and Selected Translations by A.C. Jacobs, The Menard Press and Hearing Eye, London 1996. Jerzy Ficowski's “I Did Not Manage to Save” and “Both Your Mothers” in the translation of Keith Bosley, 1996 The Menard Press (on behalf of Keith Bosley). The translations are to be found in A Reading of Ashes by Jerzy Ficowski, translated by Keith Bosley, The Menard Press, 1981.
Holocaust 1944, for baritone voice and double bass, was composed for the incomparable virtuoso doublebassist Gary Karr. I had planned for many years to compose a piece for Gary (who was once my husband's bass teacher) and I searched extensively for an appropriate theme. I had already composed one Holocaust song cycle, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, for soprano voice and alto saxophone, and when a second Holocaust cycle came into creative focus, I chose poetry with a darker tone, suited to the darker timbres of a baritone voice and a double bass.
The seven poems I used in this cycle were chosen from the book, Holocaust Poetry, edited by Hilda Schiff and published by St. Martin's Griffin in New York. The texts are by Tadeusz Rózewicz (Poland), Anne Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka), Karen Gershon (England), David Vogel (Russia), and Jerzy Ficowski (Poland). Ms. Ranasinghe, Mr. Rózewicz, and Mr. Ficowski are still living.
In I Did Not Manage to Save, the bass opens the cycle with an extended solo, then the voice enters with its mournful melody. The song is roughly divided into two parts, one a variation of the other. Triplets are used in the “wandering” section, and the mounting rhythms under the “run to help” section deepen the pain of the words, leading to the climax of the piece.
The bass sets the tone again in How Can I See You, Love. Once the voice enters, the song becomes an almost canonic duet. The harmonies shift dramatically at the end as the baritone sings “through the pale mists of childhood.”
Both Your Mothers tells the true story of the poet's wife. The musical sections display various bass techniques—glissandi, harmonics, double stops, and tremolo. The opening theme returns at the end with contrasting harmonies, a technique used later in the cycle.
With its repeated metric shifts and upbeat tempo, What Luck adds a much-needed touch of optimism. The bass rhythmically represents a heartbeat when the baritone sings “My heart beats so.”
Perhaps the most disturbing song in this cycle is Massacre of the Boys. The poem is found in The Museum at Auschwitz, and its description of innocent children being slaughtered is almost unbearable to read. The music falls into three distinct sections. Near the end, the bass has a repeated figure that builds to a climax before the song concludes with the bass quoting the opening theme for “The children cried `Mummy!'”
Race provides a respite between the darkness of the preceding and following songs. The bass uses pizzicato throughout, and the setting creates the impression of a folk song. The phrase “When I returned to my hometown” serves as a bridge between the two main sections and also closes the song.
Holocaust 1944 by Anne Ranasinghe gives the cycle its name. The song is spare and somewhat dissonant in its setting. A quote of the Sabbath blessing melody leads into a lusher harmonic section as the singer recalls happier times. A return to the sparser melodic and harmonic construction leads to the repetition of the words “I weep,” ending the cycle.
Each of these poets' lives were directly touched by the Holocaust. Their poems allow us to identify with their collective experience, making the horror of the Holocaust seem immediate and real. Their works teach the lesson of the Holocaust to a new generation, heroically declaring “Never again.”
The Years
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: October 27, 2001, Strathmore Hall, N. Bethesda, MD. Susan Wheeler, soprano, Lori Laitman, piano. Poems by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933). All are in the public domain.
During the summer of 2001, my parents-in-law, Eleanor Slimp Rosenblum and Gershen Rosenblum, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The Years cycle is a tribute to their half century of loving devotion, and the last four poems of the cycle reflect on various aspects of marriage. The first song, Jewels, represents what might have been if my in-laws had followed convention instead of their hearts. (In 1951 interfaith marriages were far less common than today.)
19. Jewels (from Love Songs, 1917)
If I should see your eyes again,
I know how far their look would go—
Back to a morning in the park
With sapphire shadows on the snow.
Or back to oak trees in the spring
When you unloosed my hair and kissed
The head that lay against your knees
In the leaf shadow's amethyst.
And still another shining place
We would remember—how the dun
Wild mountain held us on its crest
One diamond morning white with sun.
But I will turn my eyes from you
As women turn to put away
The jewels they have worn at night
And cannot wear in sober day.
20. To-Night (from Love Songs, 1917)
The moon is a curving flower of gold,
The sky is still and blue;
The moon was made for the sky to hold,
And I for you.
The moon is a flower without a stem,
The sky is luminous;
Eternity was made for them,
To-night for us.
21. Barter (from Love Songs, 1917)
Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.
Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.
Spend all you have for loveliness,
buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
22. Faults (from Sonnets to Duse and other poems, 1907)
They came to tell your faults to me,
They named them over one by one;
I laughed aloud when they were done,
I knew them all so well before,—
Oh, they were blind, too blind to see
Your faults had made me love you more.
23. The Years (from Rivers to the Sea, 1915)
To-night I close my eyes and see
A strange procession passing me—
The years before I saw your face
Go by me with a wistful grace;
They pass, the sensitive, shy years,
As one who strives to dance, half blind with tears.
The years went by and never knew
That each one brought me nearer you;
Their path was narrow and apart
And yet it led me to your heart—
Oh, sensitive, shy years, oh, lonely years,
That strove to sing with voices drowned in tears.
Plums
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: this recording.
The first of the two songs in Plums was composed on a beautiful spring day in 1996, as I sat on a bench waiting for my youngest son to return from a school field trip. Its “flavor” is different from much of my other work. The piano accompaniment has a heavy emphasis on beats 1 and 3 throughout the opening of the song and the midsection is slightly reminiscent of slow ragtime. This is just to say is the shortest song I've ever written. Running 24 seconds, it was too short for a separate ID number on this CD. The “mmm” at the end is my creation.
Between the Bliss and Me
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: November 7, 1999, The Lyceum, Alexandria, VA. Bonnie Kunkel, soprano, Alfred Clark, piano. Poems by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).
Between the Bliss and Me was the first of many song cycles composed for Adelaide Whitaker. I gained it so opens slowly, but the pace of the harmonic progression increases toward the end of the song. The harmonies found under the vocal line of A Book mirror the different emotional shadings of Dickinson's words. The phrase “What liberty a loosened spirit brings” also liberated me, so I end the song with a free vocal line and unique word settings. I could not prove was a present for my mother's 79th birthday. The running sixteenth notes in the piano accompaniment suggest the “running of the clock” and as the song progresses the keys move up by steps, further reflecting the passage of the years.
Adelaide Whitaker has been a major force in my development as a composer. To date, she has commissioned Between the Bliss and Me, Sunflowers, One or Two Things, Men with Small Heads, Round and Round, and Long Pond Revisited. Dr. Whitaker continues to introduce me to wonderful poetry, especially the works of American women, and she is a tireless promoter of new vocal music.
Little Elegy
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Premiere: this recording. Poem by Elinor Wylie (1885-1928).
I wrote this song in memory of Reid Brecher, who was the oldest son of my friends Sande and Rick Brecher. Though Reid passed away from cancer at the age of twenty-three, he lived his brief life to the fullest. The harmonic direction at the end of this song is purposely unresolved.
Dreaming
Published by Enchanted Knickers Music. Distributed by Classical Vocal Reprints. Words by Lori Laitman.
Premiere: March 6, 1992, Strathmore Hall, N. Bethesda, MD. Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano, Robert Kennedy, baritone, Lori Laitman, piano.
When I first began composing for voice, my friend and colleague, soprano Lauren Wagner, encouraged me to write a funny encore song. The result was Dreaming which exists in several versions. Here it is sung as a duet with some terrific vocal assistance from Warren Jones. This is one of the few songs for which I wrote my own lyrics.
Some prefer coffee
Some prefer tea
Some prefer chocolate
But not me
The one thing that we truly savor
Doesn't come in any flavor.
The item that we really crave
Starts with “R” and ends with “ave”
So much fun to clip and save
We're dreaming of a great review!
Big fat titles, dark and bold,
Surely worth my weight in gold,
So sweet to hug and hold,
We're dreaming of a great review!
Ooh, it gives me such a thrill to read that
I possess a voice so captivating and rare,
And, to learn of all that I can do
Sends chills right up and down my derriere!
Doesn't matter if it's true,
Think of all that it can do,
If it stinks we'll down a few,
Cause we're dreaming of a great, first-rate review!
Jennifer Check, Soprano
Ms. Check, a New Jersey native, joined The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. She made her Met debut during the 2001-2002 season as Clotilde in Norma sharing the stage with Jane Eaglen and Dolora Zajick. Later in the Met season, Ms. Check performed the role of the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo under the baton of Valery Gergiev. During the 2002-2003 season, Ms. Check will sing the Priestess in Aida, Fifth Maid in Elektra, and Alisa in Lucia Di Lammemoor.
Ms. Check is featured in the role of Young Woman in a recording of Menotti's The Saint of Bleeker Street from the Spoleto Festival, Italy, released by Chandos.
Her accolades include first place awards from the Loren L. Zachary Society Voice Competition, The Licia Albanese-Puccin
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