11.
Aaron Copland’s “Old American Songs” have become recital standards, but traditional texts and tunes have attracted many other classical composers, including John Jacob Niles, George Crumb, and Jake Heggie.
Related Educational ResourcesSong listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number:
The Little Horses
Record#: Recorded by Alan Lomax, Library of Congress (Mrs. Kate Jones)
The Little Horses
Aaron Copland
Record#: Sony 7464-60899-2 (William Warfield, baritone; Aaron Copland, piano)
Song Collection: Old American Songs, Set 2
I Bought Me a Cat
Aaron Copland
Record#: London 417 242-2 (Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano; English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis)
Song Collection: Old American Songs, Set 1
The Leather-Winged Bat
Jake Heggie
Record#: Teldec 0630-16069 (Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano; Antoine Palloc, piano)
Song Collection: Three Folk Songs
Shenandoah
Program 11: Thomas Hampson, baritone; Armen Guzelimian, piano | Program 13: Thomas Hampson, baritone; Wolfram Rieger, piano
Record#: Program 11: EMI/Angel 0946 3 4645 2 8 | Program 13: TH 5432
Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair
Cecil Sharp
Record#: Revels/EMI 72435-95073-2-3 (John Langstaff, baritone; Sir Gerald Moore, piano)
Black is the Color
John Jacob Niles
Record#: First recording (Program 11): Essential Media Group B000TPTQ2E (John Jacob Niles, singer) | Second recording (Program 11): Orfeo d’Or C707062 (Thomas Hampson, baritone; Wolfram Rieger, piano)
Black, Black, Black is the Color
George Crumb
Thomas Hampson, baritone, and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Record#: Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society concert, April 2011 (Thomas Hampson, baritone; Gilbert Kalish, piano; David Cossin, Haruka Fujii, Ayano Kataoka, Jeffrey Milarsky, percussionists)
Song Collection: Unto the Hills: American Songbook III
The Old Woman's Courtship
John Powell
Record#: Revels 38871 23022 (John Langstaff, baritone; John Powell, piano)
The Nightingale
Clifford Shaw
Record#: EMI/Angel 0946 3 4645 2 8 (Thomas Hampson, baritone; Armen Guzelimian, piano)
Barbara Allen
Record#: Goldenlane Records: American Folk Tales (Pete Seeger, unaccompanied)
Barb'ry Allen
Jake Heggie
Record#: Teldec 0630-16069 (Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano; Antoine Palloc, piano)
Song Collection: Three Folk Songs
John Riley
Howard Brockway
Record#: Revels 38871 22022 (John Langstaff, baritone; Nancy Woodbridge, piano)
The Golden Willow Tree
Aaron Copland
Thomas Hampson, baritone, and Craig Rutenberg, piano
Record#: Portland recital, 2009 (Thomas Hampson, baritone; Wolfram Rieger, piano)
Song Collection: Old American Songs, Set 2
California
Steven Mark Kohn
Record#: Azica B001AGNMBW (Andrew Garland, baritone; Donna Loewy, piano)
On the Other Shore
Record#: Recorded by Alan Lomax Library of Congress (unidentified woman + Alan Lomax)
On the Other Shore
Steven Mark Kohn
Record#: Azica B001AGNMBW (Andrew Garland, baritone; Donna Loewy, piano)
The reclusive poet explored all of life’s emotions, and there are hundreds of compelling settings of her poems, by composers from Ernst Bacon to André Previn to Ned Rorem.
Langston Hughes, one of America’s great poets, gave jubilant voice to the lives of African Americans. His poetry has inspired settings by dozens of composers; we hear some of that music and learn about the world that inspired him.
