TRANSCRIPT: July 1, 2020 MID-WEEK MUSICAL INTERLUDES #9 Hi, my name is Melissa Givens, Assistant Professor of Music at Pomona College in Claremont, California, and I'd like to welcome you to “Mid-Week Musical Interludes,” our podcast series featuring an array of glorious new and not-so-new works as recently performed by faculty, guests and students of Pomona College. For more information on the music from our podcasts please visit us at pomona.edu/musicpodcast, and music podcast is all one word. This week, soprano Ursula Kleinecke skillfully brings to life the voices of two American poets – Dorothy Parker and Sara Teasdale – in musical settings by award-winning American composer Bruce Babcock. Selections in this celebration of American song include “Fair Weather” and “Somebody’s Song” from This is What I Know – Four Poems of Dorothy Parker. Ken Foerch, alto saxophone and Gayle Blankenburg, piano; join forces with Ms. Kleinecke in these selections. They are followed by Give Me Your Stars with harpist Alison Bjorkedal. The composer thanks the NAACP for authorizing this use of Dorothy Parker's work. [II. “Fair Weather,” from This Is What I Know – Four Poems of Dorothy Parker] This level reach of blue is not my sea; Here are sweet waters, pretty in the sun, Whose quiet ripples meet obediently A marked and measured line, one after one. This is no sea of mine, that humbly laves Untroubled sands, spread glittering and warm. I have a need of wilder, crueler waves; They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm. So let a love beat over me again, Loosing its million desperate breakers wide; Sudden and terrible to rise and wane; Roaring the heavens apart; a reckless tide That casts upon the heart, as it recedes, Splinters and spars and dripping, salty weeds. [III. “Somebody’s Song, ” from This Is What I Know – Four Poems of Dorothy Parker] This is what I vow: He shall have my heart to keep; Sweetly will we stir and sleep, All the years, as now. Swift the measured sands may run; Love like this is never done; He and I are welded one: This is what I vow. This is what I pray: Keep him by me tenderly; Keep him sweet in pride of me, Ever and a day; Keep me from the old distress; Let me, for our happiness, Be the one to love the less: This is what I pray. This is what I know: Lover's oaths are thin as rain; Love's a harbinger of pain, Would it were not so! Ever is my heart a-thirst, Ever is my love accurst; He is neither last nor first: This is what I know. [continued] [“Give Me Your Stars”] Peace flows into me As the tide to the pool by the shore; It is mine forevermore, It ebbs not back like the sea. I am the pool of blue That worships the vivid sky; My hopes were heaven-high, They are all fulfilled in you. I am the pool of gold When sunset burns and dies, — You are my deepening skies, Give me your stars to hold. ___________________________________________________________ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE PODCAST The Music Department extends its thanks to the composer and performers for letting us include their work in our podcast series. The Music featured in this podcast was recorded in Mabel Shaw Bridges Hall of Music located on the campus of Pomona College, 150 E. Fourth St., Claremont, CA. The selections from This Is What I Know – Four Poems of Dorothy Parker were performed on October 7, 2018, and “Give Me Your Stars” was performed on November 3, 2019. Read about the performers: Ursula Kleinecke (soprano): pomona.edu/directory/people/ursula-kleinecke Ken Foerch (saxophone): pomona.edu/directory/people/kenneth-foerch Gayle Blankenburg (piano): pomona.edu/directory/people/gayle-blankenburg Alison Bjorkedal (harp): www.alisonbjorkedal.com Program Notes Composer Bruce Babcock has been applauded by Aaron Copland, inspired by Desmond Tutu, and mentored by Hugo Friedhofer and Earle Hagen. He has spent his working life composing music for the musicians of Los Angeles. Successful in film and television, as well as the concert hall, he is known for vibrant, sonorous, expressive pieces that immerse audience and performers alike in an inclusive and exuberant celebration of the musical art. Babcock holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in music composition from California State University, Northridge. This Is What I Know – Four Poems of Dorothy Parker was composed in 2009. The composer wishes to thank the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for authorizing this use of Dorothy Parker's work. Give Me Your Stars was commissioned and premiered by soprano Hila Plitmann in 2018. Wisdom was composed a few decades ago and was originally scored for voice and piano. In honor of our concert today, Mr. Babcock kindly arranged it for voice and harp.