Comments on: Four Marian Songs (2006) by Roger Bourland

By: Roger Bourland

Roger Bourland — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:36:08 +0000

You’re funny! My friend Dianne played all four at the same time and said that it worked quite well. Ya never know…

By: Elaine

Elaine — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:30:42 +0000

These songs are really beautiful, particularly the Spanish and Bosnian Ave Marias. While trying to load all the songs so that they would play in order without me having to sit at my computer, I came across something exciting. If you play Santa Maria and the Pilgrim’s at the same time (it is easy to adjust once they are loaded), they work very well together, particularly at the very end. It kind of has the feeling of a 13th-century Medieval motet with some Ives interludes.

Now I’m going to try the two Ave Marias together…

By: Roger Bourland

Roger Bourland — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:29:21 +0000

Thanks for your smart comments cs.
Juliana was a soprano when I wrote ROSARIUM (where these songs came from) and is morphing down to a mezzo. Some of the songs were originally higher. I will be making different voicings of the songs.

Britten? Not so much. Poulenc? Yes. Dichterliebe, somewhat, but I’m not a hard core Schumann enthusiast. I lean more towards France and America.

I know what you mean about contrasting songs, and I may harvest a few more from ROSARIUM, but that’s what we get for now.

Juliana, with any luck, will be recording all four sets of my songs:

Four Apart Songs
Four End Songs
Four Xmas Songs
Four Marian Songs

and I hope this will spark some interest in my vocal music among singers.

By: cs1966

cs1966 — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:01:03 +0000

MR. Bourland -

First, thanks for posting those Marian songs. Overall, quite lovely, subdued pieces with some wonderful surprises. My favorite is Lamentation as you used some unexpected gestures (the brief oom-pah left hand in the piano and the opening rocking minor thirds worked well with the vocal line!)for the given text.

A few questions - did you aurally image these pieces for soprano? When I hear them I think these also could be transposed for a Handelian alto. I think so because the alto would add a darker hue and greater intensity. Also are you a fan of the Britten’s and Polenc’s sacred works? For Romantic rep are you a fan of Schumann’s Dichterliebe? I also can hear you have studied your Schubert quite extensively — the first track shows through the subtle harmonic changes (especially the short interlude where you make the harmonic minor sound fresh) and its leisurely rondo-like structure.

My only suggestion is you could have offered mor contrasting tracks. I also hear your love for popular and American musical ballads and I compliment you on how well you handle these influences — I would just be careful to use it judiciously and/or strive more to assimilate into your own musical language.

I look forward to hearing more.