Episode 477. American Orchestral Song [Queer Edition]
I know, I know, I said that we were done with Pride for 2026. But honestly, given the tenor of the times (no pun intended), we have to continue foregrounding Pride every day we tread this increasingly precipitous path that is earth. And that is the United States of America. For as I write this. Even as our nation squeezes out what should be a momentous birthday celebration, our very queer existence is threatened. And one way of resisting the animosity and cruelty is to celebrate our history and our solidarity and our resilience and our creativity and our ingenuity and originality. All of these traits come to the fore in this episode: American Orchestral Song, Queer Edition. All of the composers fall somewhere on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, as do many of the poets as well as the performers. It’s interesting how many of the performances today center around the US Bicentennial in 1976, a time when spirits were much higher than they are today. Of course the most familiar figures are here: Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Ned Rorem, Virgil Thomson, Gian Carlo Menotti, but also Charles Tomlinson Griffes, John Corigliano, Mark Adamo, and David Del Tredici. Perhaps even more important are figures less renowned or perhaps completely forgotten such as Julia Perry, Robert Helps, John La Montaine, Ben Weber, and the elusive Frank Ahrold, whose compisitions all reveal a bold and individual voice. Remembering these figures keeps them alive and provides us with courage to keep forging on, against the current as need be, yet always toward justice, inclusion, and equity.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Ricky Ian Gordon, e.e. cummings: who knows if the moon’s a balloon (and flowers pick themselves, Fifth Movement). Melanie Helton, Raphael Jimenez, Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra [2008]
Charles Tomlinson Griffes, William Sharp (AKA Fiona MacLeod): I. The Lament of Ian the Proud (Three Poems of Fiona MacLeod, Op. 11/1). Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra [1976]
Gian Carlo Menotti: Picnic by the Brandywine (Landscapes and Remembrances, Sixth Movement). Judith Blegen, James A. Keeley, Milwaukee Symphony [world premiere, live Milwaukee 14.V.1976]
Samuel Barber, Frederic Prokosch: Nocturne (Three Orchestrated Songs, originally Op. 13/4). Roberta Alexander, Edo de Waart, The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic [1993]
Ned Rorem, Robin Morgan: Catafalque (Sun, Fifth Movement). Irene Gubrud, Lorin Maazel, Cleveland Orchestra [1978 broadcast]
Leonard Bernstein [orchestrated Bright Sheng]: The Love of My Life (Arias and Barcarolles, Fourth Movement). Kurt Ollmann, Edo de Waart, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic [live Rotterdam 05.I.1992]
Aaron Copland, Emily Dickinson: Dear March, Come In! (Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson, No. 5). Marvis Martin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Cleveland Orchestra [live ca. 1985]
Mark Adamo, Richard Rodriguez, Emily Dickinson: He was born in South America… (Late Victorians, Second Movement, incorporating “Crumbling is not an instant’s Act.”) Emily Pulley, Andrew Sullivan, Sylvia Alimena, Eclipse Chamber Orchestra [2009]
John Corigliano, Dylan Thomas: These were the woods (Poem in October) [excerpt] Robert White, Chamber Ensemble Conducted by Maurice Peress [1978]
John La Montaine, Henry David Thoreau: Frogs (Wilderness Journal). Donald Gramm, Antal Dorati, National Symphony [live word premiere Washington 10.X.1972]
Ben Weber, Song of Songs: Concert Aria after Solomon, Op. 29 [excerpt]. Bethany Beardslee, Orchestra conducted by Frank Brieff [1950]
Robert Helps, James Purdy: Fast [All along the meadow & all along the stream] (Gossamer Noons, Third Movement). Bethany Beardslee, Gunther Schuller, American Composers Orchestra [1978]
David Del Tredici, James Joyce: Simples [excerpt] (Night Conjure-Verse). Benita Valente, Mary Burgess, David Del Tredici, Players from the Marlboro Festival [1966]
Julia Perry: Inflammatus et accensus; Face me cruce; Quando corpus morietur (Stabat Mater). Taylor Raven, Brandon Keith Brown, Duisburger Philharmoniker [live 2025]
Frank Ahrold, William Butler Yeats: Second Coming [excerpt]. Philip Langridge, Harold Farberman, London Symphony Orchestra [1975]
Virgil Thomson, Gertrude Stein: We Cannot Retrace Our Steps [Final Scene] (The Mother of Us All). Mignon Dunn, Raymond Leppard, Orchestra of the Santa Fe Opera [1977]
