Tchaikovsky insisted that the essential in vocal music is the truthful reproduction of emotion and state of mind, even if it meant sacrificing literal truth for artistic truth.
Compositional Technique
Ned Rorem chose a style of heightened speech for the vocal line in "War Scenes" due to the prose nature of Walt Whitman's texts, with the piano providing punctuation, commentary, and background.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Ned Rorem, a pacifist and Quaker, composed "War Scenes" as a protest against the Vietnam War, using Walt Whitman's anti-war diary as text.
Performer Biography
Gerald Finley, a Canadian bass-baritone, began singing as a chorister and is a Visiting Professor and Fellow of the Royal College of Music.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded live at Wigmore Hall, London, on October 18, 2007, with Jeremy Hayes as producer and Tony Faulkner as engineer.
Composition History
Ned Rorem's "War Scenes" was composed in ten days in 1969 for French baritone Gérard Souzay and pianist Dalton Baldwin, using extracts from Walt Whitman's war journal.
Composer Biography
Modest Musorgsky, initially a dandy and dilettante, became a radical composer devoted to creating a truly Russian national style in music, believing art should reflect social reality.
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