I have been posting little essays here as previews to my February 6th and 7th recitals with Victoria Kirsch: one essay for each of the cycles we are performing. My first post in this series included general observations about the genre of art-song as a whole; if you’ve not read that one, I recommend you have a look! The last cycle I am going to highlight for our program is a fantastic three-song set by a living composer, and my friend, Dr. Mark Carlson. Carlson’s This is the Garden sets three poems by the ever-exuberant E.E. Cummings (Mark advises me that capitalizing all three initials is correct, although I am still very attracted to the lowercase styling, e.e. cummings, which was used in publishing and criticism for so much of the twentieth century…something about it suits the whimsy and earthiness I associate with Cummings’ work). Instead of another meditation from me (and since, unlike Schumann, Ravel, and Barber, Carlson still lives and breathes) I thought it would be a special treat to do this blog post in the form of an interview with the composer. Please enjoy this back-and-forth on Mark’s extraordinary career, and what listeners can expect to experience on Thursday and Friday:

What could classical songs have to do with the sound of urine tinkling in a chamber-pot?

The Goal of Living is to Grow, my song recital with the wonderful Victoria Kirsch, will be taking place next Thursday, February 6 2025, and next Friday, February 7 2025, in Tacoma and Seattle respectively. We are presenting a wonderful selection from the repertoire of the art song, and I’ve been moved to share my thoughts on each of the song-cycles we are presenting here in blog form. If you go back two posts in this blog, you’ll find my article on Schumann’s Liederkreis, op. 39, which explains a little general information about the genre of art-song as a whole, particularly the satisfying marriage of poetry and music in this genre.

It all begins with an idea.