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Northern Landscapes - The Lonely Land
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

1. THE LONELY LAND

Cedar and jagged fir
uplift sharp barbs
against the gray
and cloud-piled sky;
and in the bay
blown spume and windrift
and thin, bitter spray
snap at the whirling sky;
and the pine trees
lean one way.
A wild duck calls to her mate,
and the ragged
and passionate tones
stagger and fall,
and recover,
and stagger and fall,
on these stones -
are lost in the lapping of water
on smooth, flat stones.
This is the beauty
of dissonance,
this resonance
of stony strand,
this smoky cry
curled over a black pine
like a broken
and wind-battered branch
when the wind
bends the tops of the pines
and curdles the sky
from the north.
This is the beauty
of strength
broken by strength
and still strong.

credits

from Gentle Lady, do not sing sad songs​.​.​., released June 12, 2013

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Ludwig Recordings Delta, British Columbia

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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