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Archive of "Uncategorized" Category
Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats
First draft of John Keats’ famous poem “Ode to a Nightingale”. Just me with my guitar…. oops, says file is too big! The song turned out to be right at 10 minutes long. O.k. I’ll see what else I can do.So here’s a preview of the first two verses:
Here’s the first two lines again but different:
I’ve been playing with violin, viola, cello and flute which all sound good, but I keep coming back to the bare bones creation. What can I say!
Thank you, John for this beautiful poem. I hope you like what I’m doing with it.
Nearly Ready….or do I speak too soon!
Ode to a Nightingale is finally pulling together. I’m getting very close to beginning the recording process. My first reaction to putting this great work to music was a bit overwhelming. But patient, inching progress has led to something I think will be very nice and fitting of the great sentiments.
My favorite part: “Was it a vision or a waking dream? Fled is that music-do I wake or sleep?” (The very last lines)
Of course I love the whole poem. I hope you will like what I’m doing with it.
Recouping old work
William Blake self-portrait
Just posted a video of William Blake’s Introduction piece in the collection Songs of Innocence. The audio is taken from an old cassette tape which include several ideas for musical versions of Blake’s famous collection. I’ve managed to score several of these on Finale and would love to perform them someday once I’ve tested them and feel they are ready for prime time!
Thanks for listening!
Ode on a Grecian Urn CD at lulu.com
The new CD “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is up and running at lulu.com. I’ ve ordered my first copies. You can get yours right now by going to lulu.com. It will also be on Amazon.com eventually, but Amazon pays about half of what lulu does. The inside of the CD cover is blank if I remember correctly. But it looks great otherwise!I’m already working on Ode to a Nightingale and some other great poems.
Thanks for checking it out!
Happy Birthday, Michael Head
In celebration of this very fine composer, pianist and singer, Michael Head, I made a little video of his song “A Piper” which was part of a recital that included two more of his ” Songs from the Countryside.”
Music for Waiting by John Burroughs
First version of John Burroughs‘ famous poem
“Waiting”.
There are so many things I’ve tried doing with this song and I finally decided to leave it bare bones simple.One guitar, three voices and some bass at the end.
My hope is that the music fits the poem and that I’ve done well enough for now with this first version. It’s been a long time coming!
La Belle Dame Sans Merci (John Keats)
I was pleased and surprised to find several musical settings for this great poem. There are classical versions and folk versions. There are choral versions and solo with orchestra and even instrumentals of various kinds. Here’s one I wrote for tenor and guitar, quasi folk/classical. How would you classify it?
La Belle Dame Sans Merci Keats
Last verse:
“And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.”Songs Appearing on Show for International Day of Peace
Two Songs, “Circle of Love” and “Love Only Comes” from SINGular mOMent CD and MOrning Sun CD will be part of a great show on onlinewithandrea on Blog Talk Radio on a special 3 hour show, Monday, September 21st. The show is in celebration of the United Nations International Day of Peace.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onlinewithandrea/2009/09/22/One-Love-for-Music-with-Lee-Waterworth
Check out the time for your time zone and register with Blog Talk Radio so you can join everyone in the chat room. If you can’t make it for the live show you can listen to the archive any time.
It is a great honor for me to have my music included on this wonderful show!
Hope to see you there!
Rumors from an Aeolian Harp (Thoreau)
Rumours from an Aeolian Harp Thoreau
Here’s something I hope you’ll enjoy while I work on Waiting(Burroughs) and Song of Wandering Aengus(Yeats)
I especially like the harmonizing at the end!
Rumors form an Aeolian Harp
Henry David ThoreauThere is a vale which none hath seen,
Where foot of man has never been,
Such as here lives with toil and strife,
An anxious and a sinful life.There every virtue has its birth,
Ere it descends upon the earth,
And thither every deed returns,
Which in the generous bosom burns.There love is warm, and youth is young,
And poetry is yet unsung.
For Virtue still adventures there,
And freely breathes her native air.And ever, if you hearken well,
You still may hear its vesper bell,
And tread of high-souled men go by,
Their thoughts conversing with the sky“Waiting” by John Burroughs
John Burroughs
I’m still working on the final version of John Burroughs poem “Waiting.” So far there is guitar and three voices a la Crosby, Stills and Nash or so I’ve been told! Yet I thought that was a great compliment!
This poem interested me in that I feel Burroughs has connected with an eternal truth which is in essence: what is mine shall come to me. In it he seems to say accept who you are and from that acceptance your life will unfold as it should and all that is required will come in it’s perfect time. He points toward the natural synchronicity of nature and life and the co-ordination of the inner and outer expressions of life.
Burroughs was a nature enthusiast and writer along the lines of Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman.
In the words of his biographer Edward Renehan, Burroughs’s special identity was less that of a scientific naturalist than that of “a literary naturalist with a duty to record his own unique perceptions of the natural world.” (from Wikipedia)
It is a great honor and joy to conect with these great writers through music. I hope I serve the ideas they brought to light in a way that enhances and enlivens the written words.
Here’s the poem. Waiting by John Burroughs
Songs of mine that are related to these ideas: From the Morning Sun CD: Morning Sun, Love’s Song from the Forest, Love Only Comes. From the SINGular mOMent CD: Butterfly
The lulu edition of MOrning Sun has an axtra bonus track: “Rumors from an Aeolian Harp” by Henry David Thoreau. Check it out!
About Michael
Michael Emmanuel has been making music most of his life. His blend of folk and classical music creates a unique sound that is engaging, intelligent and compelling.
Relying on original lyrics as well as some of the great Romantic poems of the past, his songs evoke a sense of connection to our fellow man, the world and the universe.
Beyond being a singer/songwriter and guitarist. Michael is an accomplished classical tenor and pianist.
