Program 11: The New World Order
Song: Mirror of the World Radio Series
Program 11: The New World Order
World War II had a deep influence on composers. The program begins with Benjamin Britten’s “Death, Be Not Proud,” then explores how post-war challenges brought a new appreciation of folksong, how atonality gained influence, and how artists coped under repressive regimes. Featured composer/poet pairs include Copland/Dickinson, Bernstein/Rilke, Rorem/Frost, Poulenc/Eluard, and Shostakovich/Chyorny.
Listen to the full program:
Host & Artistic Director:
Thomas Hampson
Co-Produced by the Hampsong Foundation and The WFMT Radio Network
Production Team:
Executive Producers: Thomas Hampson & Steve Robinson (The WFMT Radio Network)
Audio Producer: Carolyn Paulin (The WFMT Radio Network)
Coordinating Producer: Miriam Lewin
Project Manager: Christie Finn
Writer for The New World Order: Jeff Lunden, freelance arts reporter and producer for NPR
Song listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number are listed below.
Britten: The Red Cockatoo, The Holy Sonnets of John Donne and Other Songs
“Death, Be Not Proud,” from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35, No. 9 (1945)
Composer: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Text: John Donne (1572-1631)
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Graham Johnson, piano
Hyperion: 66823
To the Soul
“Sing On There in the Swamp”
Composer: Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Text: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Craig Rutenberg, piano
("Sing On There in the Swamp" from 1943, later incorporated in When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d)
EMI Classics: 58239
“Heavenly Grass,” from Blue Mountain Ballads (1946)
Recital in Winona, Minnesota, July 2009
Composer: Paul Bowles (1910-1999)
Text: Tennessee Williams (1843-1910)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Craig Rutenberg, piano
A Copland Celebration, Vol. 2
“Simple Gifts (Shaker Song)” from Old American Songs, Set 1 (1950)
Composer: Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Text: Traditional
William Warfield, bass-baritone
Aaron Copland, piano
Sony: 89326
Wondrous Free: Song of America II (2009)
“Richard Cory” (1948)
Composer: John Duke (1899-1984)
Text: Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Craig Rutenberg, piano
Thomas Hampson Media (THM): 5432
Bernstein conducts Bernstein
Clip of III. “Lamentation,” from Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah (1942)
Composer: Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Text: Bible
Jennie Tourel, mezzo-soprano
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Sony: 727988
Leonard Bernstein: Songs
“When My Soul Touches Yours” from 2 Love Songs (1949)
Composer: Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Text: Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)
Roberta Alexander, soprano
Tan Crone, piano
Etcetera: 1037
Where the Music Comes From: American Songs
“Wild Nights! Wild Nights!” from Op. 112, No. 1 (1949)
Composer: Arthur Farwell (1872-1952)
Text: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Cynthia Haymon, soprano
Warren Jones, piano
Decca: 436117
Phyllis Curtin: Songs of Copland and Rorem
“The Chariot,” from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1950)
Composer: Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Text: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
Phyllis Curtin, soprano
Aaron Copland, piano
("The Chariot" recorded 1969-71)
VAI: 1194
Modern American Vocal Works
Clip of Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Composer: Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Text: James Agee (1909-1955)
Eleanor Steber, soprano
Dumbarton Oaks Chamber Orchestra
William Strickland, conductor
Sony: 7464-60899-2
Leontyne Price Sings Barber
“The Monk and His Cat,” from Hermit Songs, Op. 29 (1954)
Composer: Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Text: Anonymous 8th or 9th century
Translation: W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
Leontyne Price, soprano
Samuel Barber, piano
(Hermit Songs recorded 1952-3)
RCA Victor Gold Seal: 09026-61983-2
Luigi Dallapiccola: A Portrait
Clip of I. “La Primavera ha venido,” from Quattro liriche di Antonio Machado (1948)
Composer: Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975)
Text: Antonio Machado (1875-1939)
Susan Hamilton, soprano
David Wilde, piano
Delphian: 34020
Clip of Du (1951)
Composer: Milton Babbitt (1916-2011)
Text: August Stramm (1874-1915)
Bethany Beardslee, soprano
Robert Helps, piano
Private Collection: *used with permission
Morten Feldman: Voices & Instruments (Feldman Edition 5)
Clip of II. from The O’Hara Songs (1962)
Composer: Morten Feldman (1926-1987)
Text: Frank O’Hara (1926-1966)
Claron McFadden, soprano
Barton Workshop
James Fulkerson, conductor
Mode: Mode 107
Songs of Ned Rorem
“Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1947)
Composer: Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
Text: Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
Malcolm Martineau, piano
Erato: 80222
Good News
“Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1963)
Composer: Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
Text: Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Louise Toppin, soprano
Vivian Taylor, piano
Videmus Records: VIS 735
Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams
“Drums of Tragedy,” from Nightsongs: Six Afro-American Songs (1961)
Composer: H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932)
Text: Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
Darryl Taylor, tenor
Robin Guy, piano
Albany: 428
Francis Poulenc: Oeuvres Complètes
“Marc Chagall,” from Le travail du peintre (1956)
Composer: Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Text: Paul Éluard (1895-1952)
Gérard Souzay, baritone
Dalton Baldwin, piano
EMI Classics: 972165
Magdalena Kožená: Songs
“Kritiku” (“To a Critic”), from Satirï (Satires: ‘Pictures of the Past’) (1960)
Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Text: Aleksander Glickberg, under the pseudonym Sasha Chorny (1880-1932)
Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano
Malcolm Martineau, piano
Deutsche Grammophon: 471581
Hanns Eisler: Ernste Gesänge – Lieder with piano
“Epilog,” from Ernste Gesänge (Serious Songs) (1936-62)
Composer: Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
Text: Stephan Hermlin (1915-1997)
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Ensemble Resonanz
Harmonia Mundi: 902134
The British Music Collection: English Folksongs
“The Minstrel Boy” from (1957, pub. 1960)
Composer: Benjamin Britten (1898-1976)
Text: Traditional
Peter Pears, tenor
Benjamin Britten, piano
Decca: pub 1960
