Songs my Mother Taught me is the culmination of a year's worth of research and composing. It is a song cycle for alto and baritone voice, violoncello, pedal harp, and marimba; centred around German folklore as an exploration of my familial heritage. I used this project as an opportunity to explore this topic in granular detail, and in future I intend to organise my research and publish an article in regard to my findings! This was a project quite dear to me, as my family is from Germany - from a region close to the infamous Lorelei (a famous cliff along the Rhein river, where according to folk legend a siren like figure would lure sailers to their death), and I have fond memories of passing it as a child in wonder.
This project is the result of a study in German folklore. It’s lyrics are an amalgamation of folk tales that have echoed through the regions collective consciousness for centuries, perhaps millennia, enduring in the weeds of children’s stories, folk songs and proverbs.
I wish to give these ideas a new life, with new musical bedding, evoking their spirit without engaging directly in their musical tropes. To create is to contribute to the cultural weave of what has come before, and I hope, however minuscule, that this project engages in the constant (albeit somewhat slowed) forward motion of the folk tradition.
Themes of human nature, violence; of supernatural and the mundane; deep mysticism and christian devotion find themselves side by side in many of the songs and stories I had investigated. With such a broad thematic palate do pull from, I found myself drawn to the stories centred on family, in retrospect maybe a natural choice given my connection to the culture. Often the supernatural is woven into these familial stories to seemingly soften the blow of what can range from tragic circumstance to malevolence. Unfortunately, this is too often at the hand of a masculine figure, be that a brother, father, or supernatural (or natural) suitor, to pass as simple coincidence; many of the striking stories that I wove into my own lyrics were privy to this, and as such have played into my own lyrics. Violence, entrapment, and a despondent resilience feature centre within my lyrics, to be clear - these are not happy songs.
Whether these stories serve as cautionary tales or as whispers of life in early Europe are ultimately beyond the scope of this project; my intention with this project is to rediscover the stories that shaped this culture, and shine my own little light on what catches my eye.
Program Notes
