07.
Over the course of the 20th century, our classical singers were enthusiastic advocates for songs by American composers. In this program, we hear the music they brought to far-flung audiences through recitals, phonograph records, and radio broadcasts.
Related Educational ResourcesSong listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number:
Pirate Song
Henry F. Gilbert
Robert Louis Stevenson
Record#: transfer from 78 RPM (David Bispham, baritone; pianist unknown)
Long Ago (op. 56, no. 1)
Edward MacDowell
Edward MacDowell
Record#: Marston 52001-2 (Alma Gluck, soprano; Rosario Bourdon, piano)
Song Collection: Four Songs, Op. 56
Dearest (op. 24)
Sidney Homer
William Ernest Henley
Record#: Pearl Gemm CD9950 (Louise Homer, contralto; Victor Orchestra, conductor unknown)
The Monk and His Cat (op. 29, no. 8)
Samuel Barber
W. H. Auden
Anonymous
Record#: RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-61983-2 (Leontyne Price, soprano; Samuel Barber, piano)
Song Collection: Hermit Songs, Op. 29
The Home Road
John Alden Carpenter
John Alden Carpenter
Record#: Delos DE5503 (Ernestine Schmann-Heink, contralto; Katherine Hoffman, piano)
Go Down, Moses
Henry T. Burleigh
Spiritual
Record#: NW 247 (LP) (Roland Hayes, tenor; Lawrence Brown, piano)
Will o' the Wisp
Charles Gilbert Spross
Torrence Benjamin
Record#: VAIA 1168 (Marian Anderson, contralto; Franz Rupp, piano)
On the Road to Mandalay
Oley Speaks
Rudyard Kipling
Record#: DELOS DE5500 (Lawrence Tibbett, baritone; Stewart Wille, piano)
Gentle Annie
Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster
Record#: MET 210CD (Robert Merrill, baritone; Leila Edwards, piano)
At Dawning
Charles Wakefield Cadman
Nelle Richmond Eberhart
Record#: EMI 2 15598 2 (Paul Robeson, bass-baritone; orchestra conducted by Walter Goehr)
The Bluebird of Happiness
Sandor Harmati
Edward Heyman
Record#: RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-68531-2 (Jan Peerce, tenor; RCA Victor Orchestra, Sylvan Levin, conductor)
Trees
Oscar Rasbach
Joyce Kilmer
Record#: JASCD 474 (Nelson Eddy, baritone; Columbia Concert Orchestra, Leon Arnaud conductor)
Nancy Hanks
Katherine Kennicott Davis
Rosemary Benét
Record#: VAIA 1005-2; CD 2, track 17 (Eleanor Steber, soprano; Edwin Biltcliffe, piano)
Zion's Walls
Aaron Copland
Record#: Sony Classical SM2K 89326/89327 (William Warfield, baritone; Aaron Copland, piano)
Song Collection: Old American Songs, Set 2
Let It Be Forgotten
George Crumb
Sara Teasdale
Record#: Bridge 9253 (Jan DeGaetani, mezzo-soprano; Gilbert Kalish, piano)
Song Collection: Three Early Songs
Charles Ives was unprecedented at suiting his musical style to the story he wanted to tell, and he created dozens of surprising “snapshots in song” of what it was like to be alive in America during his lifetime.
At the beginning of the 20th century, deeply influenced by Dvorak’s challenge to Americans to find their own musical voices, Arthur Farwell used music of Native Americans and words of American poets as inspiration for his own unique voice. He also pioneered the publishing of American composers and poets through his famed Wa-Wan Press.
