Northern Landscapes - Sea Cliff
by Violet Archer (1978, for baritone & piano)
Violet Archer composed in all genres, and was especially attracted to the idea of Gebrauchsmusik (literally, 'utility music'), a concept closely linked to her teacher Hindemith. Traces of music as a social endeavour can be found throughout her oeuvre, especially in her many pedagogical works. Archer wrote that her deep religious faith also provided a sense of purpose and foundation to her work. Above all, Archer was an adventurous composer, blending neo-classicism with, at various times, dissonance, folk-elements, expressionism, and parallelism. Though she taught serialism and aleatoric methods, Archer did not incorporate these techniques into her music. Despite the variety of methods she employed, Archer’s music is marked by a spareness of textures and a certain clarity. She completed 335 works over her lifetime.
The collection of works by Violet Archer on this recording span thirty years. Northern Landscape is a setting of three poems by A.J.M. Smith, and was commissioned for the Canadian Music competition in 1978. The piano part is particularly prominent, somewhat in the manner of Schumann’s lied, while the texts are distinctively Canadian in their portrayal of natural elements.
lyrics
Northern Landscapes
Poems from The Classic Shade, by A.J.M. Smith
3. SEA CLIFF
Wave on wave
and green on rock
and white between
the splash and black
the crash and hiss
of the feathery fall
the snap and shock
of the water wall
and the wall of rock.
After- after the ebb-flow,
wet rock, high-
high over the slapping green,
water sliding away
and the rock abiding,
new rock riding out of the
spray.
Ludwig Recordings is a Record Label specializing in the music of composer Christopher Ludwig and its artists.
Ludwig Recordings has an especially strong focus on Art Song.
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