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A Remarkable Art Song Composer

A Remarkable Art Song Composer

articles on other topics Juliana Hall: A Remarkable Art KATHERINE EBERLE When recall the many art I have lei (a setting for mezzo, horn and on Winter Windows ( songs for baritone studied, performed, and taught in the past a poem by Sylvia Plath) recorded on the Vi- and piano on poems by Walter de la Mare, twenty years, only a few cycles stand out enna Modern Masters label (VMM2005); Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and as ones I find worthy of recording or per- Theme In Yellow (seven songs for soprano Percy Bysshe Shelley). forming repeatedly. I believe high quality or tenor and piano on poems by Robert Hall has received a number of com- art songs require captivating , in- Frost, Amy Lowell, Edna St. Vincent Mil- missions. Two were from the Schubert teresting rhythms, excellent text setting, lay, and Carl Sandburg), excerpts of which Club of St. Paul, Minnesota for distin- and harmonic choices that accompany the I also recorded on the same label. That year guished Metropolitan singers David text so that the words really speak to me Hall wrote Peacock Pie (twenty songs for Malis and , one from the emotionally. With those criteria fulfilled, I tenor and piano on poems by Walter de la Mirror Visions Ensemble was premiered at believe I can reach my audiences most ef- Mare); Songs of Enchantment (ten songs The American Church in Paris, France; one fectively. Juliana Hall’s compositions meet for soprano and piano on poems by Walter from the Turnpike Camerata of New those requirements for me. de la Mare); Syllables of Velvet, Sentences was premiered in New York City; and one I first encountered Juliana Hall’s works of Plush (seven songs for soprano and pia- from soprano Elizabeth Dubberly was pre- in the 1990’s when a colleague heard I was no on letters of Emily Dickinson) published miered in Montevideo, Uruguay. seeking repertoire for a compact disc re- by Boosey and Hawkes (VAB313); and Last fall, I began studying Hall’s three cording and suggested I contact the gradu- ate dean at my university, as his daughter- in-law was a composer. I did, and Hall generously sent me copies of some of her , which I then went on to perform and record. A few years later she invited me to perform her cycle Letters from Edna at Yale. She is a fabulous collaborative as well, so the experience was a very pleas- ant one for us both. Years went by and we lost track of one another. When it came time for me to record another compact disc, I re- membered that my favorite work of the past twenty years was Hall’s Letters from Edna. When I contacted her again and told her I wished to record the songs and use them as part of my tour, she agreed to also let me interview her so that I could write ar- ticles about her during my sabbatical. If you are unfamiliar with Juliana Hall, let me introduce you. She is a pro- lific composer of classical art songs having written more than 250 individual songs. Born in 1958 and currently living in Con- necticut with her husband and son, Hall composes full time and has been a visiting guest at the nearby Hartt School of Music. Hall’s music has been performed in more than two dozen countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia by more than 100 performers. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fel- lowship in Music Composition in 1989, at the tender age of 30. She applied for the fel- lowship so that she could dedicate herself to composing full-time. The award offered her living expenses for a year, and as a result she wrote six major works including Lore- Juliana Hall, “To Harriet Monro,” from Letters from Edna

Eberle: Juliana Hall: A Remarkable Composer 21 song cycles for mezzo-soprano so that I ers at various junctures , those quite a few wonderful teachers. One of the could make some comparisons for lectures teachers always encouraged me to abandon most influential comments that continues at the Athena Festival and the University piano (or at least make it secondary) and to guide me came from Frederic Rzewski, of Hartford Women Festival, as concentrate on developing my composi- who insisted that I not seek to follow any well as potential publications. Hall’s own tional ability. particular fad or trend, but that I find my words about her writing reveal her com- KE: Why specialize in art song? own inner voice and trust my own com- positional style quite clearly. Below are JH: As some of my earliest pieces positional intuition. Martin Bresnick and excerpts from an email on September 13, were songs, I very early discovered that Leon Kirchner were very helpful with myr- and my telephone interview with her on I enjoyed working with text and felt that iad technical details, which was especially September 14, 2012. song composition was “right” for me…and important in my case, since I really began KE: What led you to pursue composing? it seemed, too, that I had something of a my formal composition studies relatively JH: Although I began my musical life knack for it. Perhaps this was because I had late in life while in graduate school at Yale. as a pianist, first studying with my mother, always been drawn to and had Later, when I was studying in Minneapo- I always had a feeling that I might be able enjoyed both English and in school. lis, Dominick Argento helped me quite a to write music…I’m not even sure why. KE: What past teachers or critics bit with his vast knowledge of literature However, when I did compose pieces and shaped your compositional style? and by sharing his deep experience of writ- my music was heard by composition teach- JH: As far as teachers, I have been ing for the special qualities of the different blessed by the opportunity to study with voice types. He also helped me to “find my own voice” by convincing me of the im- portance of setting English-language texts as a native English speaker. KE: How would you characterize your songs? JH: I would characterize my songs as lyrical works written in an extended to- nality that sounds modern without giving the impression of belonging to a school of composition (atonal, romantic, etc.). One other characteristic that audiences fre- quently comment upon is that they are able to understand virtually every single word in my works—without reading printed texts—which I believe is due to the man- ner in which I set the rhythms according to the text, down to the level of individual syllables. KE: Do you write for one specific singer or ? JH: I have written mostly song cycles for soprano and baritone voices, because the majority of performers I’ve known have been either sopranos or baritones. How- ever, I’ve also written three mezzo cycles, three tenor cycles, and a cycle for . KE: What do you believe sets your songs apart from other composers? JH: Although I am perhaps better ac- quainted with song composers of past gen- erations than those closer to my own age, I think what makes my songs unique is that when I am composing I am not attempting to “comment upon” or “express my view of” the chosen text; rather, I am trying to set each poem or letter in a manner de- signed to illuminate the poet’s or ’s point of view as I feel it to be. One concrete example of how I might do this is to very closely set my melodies to the rhythm of

22 IAWM Journal Volume 19, No. 1 2013 each individual word in the text, in a sense W.H. Auden, William Blake, Lewis Carroll, that the music can modulate freely, and ac- letting the text dictate how the music will e.e. cummings, Walter de la Mare, Thomas companiment figures that underscore and go; this is very different from a composer Hardy, Edward Lear, Henry Wadsworth support the singer, sometimes doubling the like Schubert, who might “fit” a text into Longfellow, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, voice and other times, providing harmonic a repetitive rhythmic structure of his own and William Shakespeare (among others). coloration. devising. Of course, other women whose I For access to additional repertoire, KE: Who are some of your favorite enjoy setting include Emily Bronte, Emily recordings, and information, please see poets? Dickinson, Marianne Moore, and Sylvia www.JulianaHall.com. I believe Hall’s JH: In my early days as a composer Plath, but my choice is always governed art song cycles are especially persuasive I very much liked setting poems by Paul more by how an individual text fits into my for their strong rhythmic drive, lyrical Verlaine (in French), Rainer Maria Rilke plan for exploring a subject, color, or mood melodies, and superb text settings. Hall’s (in German), and Federico Garcia Lorca than by whether the author of that text is a fascinating creativity in her compositions (in Spanish). For man or . brings life to texts in a way that delights some time now KE: How do you choose poetry to set audiences, and thus she is worthy of more I have concen- to song? public appreciation for her extraordinary trated on setting JH: When I begin a new , I thread in the women composer’s musi- English-language usually have in mind a “subject” or a “col- cal narrative. Surely she will now join the poems. I do seem or” or a “mood” I wish to explore. Most ranks of other respected living American to be drawn to a of the time, though, I don’t know right off women art song composers such as Libby certain type of what poetry will provide the right subject, Larsen, Lori Laitman, and Judith Cloud. lyrical poetry that color, or mood I’m looking for. I just start Katherine Eberle, mezzo-soprano, is an art song lends itself very reading and rereading poets, both male and Juliana Hall, specialist who has given over one hundred solo well to musical female, and usually the “right” text by the photo by Paul Cryan recitals as a guest artist in Brazil, Canada, Eng- setting. Elizabeth “right” poet presents itself. land, Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, the Virgin Islands, and around the U.S. Her solo engage- Bishop, Amy Lowell, and Edna St. Vincent The musical example, “To Harriet Millay are three poets from my “collec- ments include performances with the Monro,” from Letters from Edna, shows of Detroit, Lansing, and Saginaw tion” of poets, that is, poets I tend to en- Hall’s ability to set humorous texts as well joy working with repeatedly. These three (Michigan), and Atlanta, Macon, Rome, and Val- as her ability to bring out Edna St. Vincent dosta (Georgia). She made her New York debut are women, and I do feel that women poets Millay’s serious financial need at the time. at Weill Recital Hall in 1994. She was a 1997 have a certain feeling that male poets do This particular letter is written to Millay’s Artistic Ambassador for the United States Infor- not have; however, I also have a number literary agent and friend requesting a mon- mation Agency doing solo concert tours in South of male poets whose works I enjoy. Also, etary advance. The comedic text is height- America and Korea. A Van Lawrence Fellowship I find it stimulating to work with both the ened by the broken phrase lengths, when Winner from Foundation, Eberle was a 2012 Obermann Fellow in Residence for her more masculine tone of male poets as well Millay says, “spring is here, and I could be as the female sensibility with which certain research in women composers. She has been a happy, except that I am broke.” Note how professor of voice at the University of Iowa since women poets express themselves. I believe Hall sets the text. Her syllabification and it is more of a coincidence that my three cy- 1991. Eberle’s DVD recording, : phrase shapes mirror the emotional despair Composer, Singer, Forgotten Muse, is available cles for mezzo-soprano use women’s texts; Millay must have felt. Hall’s traits include on .com. The IAWM is delighted to wel- many of my works set texts by poets such as multi-metric phrases, no key signature so come Juliana Hall as a new IAWM member. Wang Qiang: A Composer In Tune With Her Times Wang Qiang is the co-founder ference that dominated most of her artistic Liberation Army’s art troupe as a teenager and President of the Chinese life, the composer moved from Shanghai and went to the border with North Korea Women Composers’ Association to Hong Kong in 1991. Hong Kong is not as a volunteer during the Korean War. It and a long-time member of the particularly known for the kind of artistic was there the 16-year-old learned to com- IAWM. This article originally ap- atmosphere that inspires creativity. But for pose war propaganda songs. “I like com- peared in the South China Morn- Wang, one of a handful of contemporary posing. It’s a way of expressing myself,” ing Post, Hong Kong, on Decem- women composers on the mainland, it was she said, her eyes twinkling with enthusi- ber 27, 2012. We thank the Post heaven. “I came here for an environment asm. “When the US planes were bombing for granting permission to reprint that allows me to compose freely,” said overhead, we were dancing in the air raid the article. The IAWM is pleased Wang, now 77. “I have written so much shelters.” to honor Wang Qiang for her con- rubbish in my life, things I now have no After the war, she entered the Shang- tributions to and wish to see any more.” hai Conservatory of Music to study com- to the profession. Wang’s early career in music compo- position in 1955. She studied under Ding The first time Wang Qiang felt completely sition was marred by political interference. Shande, a French-trained who free to write her music, she was already 56 But her eventful and dramatic life gave encouraged students to be liberal and years old. Fed with the political inter- her plenty of inspiration. Born in Shan- creative in their compositions. But Wang dong in 1935, Wang joined the People’s soon found herself—along with other

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