#ClassicsaDay #PoetryMonth 2022 Week 2
By Ralph Graves
What’s the connection between classical music and poetry? To celebrate Poetry Month, the Classics a Day team encouraged folks to find out. For the month of April, the challenge is to post poetry used in classical music or works inspired by poetry.
4/11/22 Sergei Prokofiev – Five Poems of Anna Akhmatova for Soprano and Piano, Op. 27
She’s now considered one of Russia’s most important poets. But during the Stalin years, Akmatova was considered an enemy of the state, and her poetry was only circulated in secret.
4/12/22 John Tavener – Akhmatova Songs
Tavener’s work collects poems from across Akmatova’s career. He had previously set her Requiem, using a spare, Eastern Orthodox-inspired style.
4/13/22 Roger Quilter – Three Songs of William Blake, Op. 20
Quilter focused his compositional efforts primarily on artsongs. Quilter publshed his “Three Songs” in 1917. Included were “Dream Valley,” “The Wild Flower’s Song,” and “Daybreak.”
4/14/22 Benjamin Britten – Songs and Proverbs of William Blake
Britten composed this work in 1965. Peter Pears selected the text, and the cycle was premiered by Britten and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
4/15/22 Hubert Parry – Jerusalem
Parry set William Blake’s poem in 1916. It became an instant hit as a patriotic anthem during the First World I.
