Tuesday, February 10, 2009

For LB: Liza Lehman (1862-1918)

Here you go, LB, a version of "The Lobster Quadrille" (though this song is titled by the poem's first line) that is neither atonal or polytonal (which I think Ligeti's version was, though my critical listening skills are rusty):




This version is from a CD of the songs of Liza Lehmann, a British composer (and singer) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Go here for her bio at Naxos. The musicians on this CD (in case you can't read the tiny little print on the cover, right) are Janice Watson, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Toby Spence, and Neal Davies, singers, and Steuart Bedford, pianist.

3 comments:

Lynne said...

Okay now.

I can at least comprehend the music, if not the words. This actually sounds quite pretty. Thanks for helping me out.

Christina said...

It is pretty, isn't it? The one for solo voice and piano that I couldn't find was even prettier. I'll keep searching for it. I prefer music that's pleasing to the ear, too, but thought the Ligeti was interesting. Plus Ligeti's oeuvre contains so much varied music that I'm sure I'll blog about him again some time.

Lynne said...

I look forward to it.

I wonder if it's like Picasso. He needed to know how to draw very well before he could become so abstract (as to no longer be comprehensible).

I'd love to hear some more of Ligeti's more pleasing pieces.