John Corigliano
's
Seven Poems of Bob Dylan
(2000) are just that: they are not adaptations or classical arrangements of
Dylan
's songs but fresh settings of his texts, akin,
Corigliano
says, to pieces in which several generations of German composers approached the poetry of
Goethe
anew. The work has rarely been recorded, and this version -- with the soprano amplified lightly and an accompanying sextet -- receives its world premiere here.
claims that he had never heard the
songs themselves. This is a bit hard to believe in the case of
Blowin' in the Wind
and
Forever Young
, but the songs raise fascinating issues. Consider "Blowin' in the Wind." Part of the enduring power of
's music is that he managed to fit poetry of depth into plain-spoken folk forms, and whether or not
had heard this song in its rendition by
Peter, Paul & Mary
or anywhere else, his melody doesn't seem entirely unrelated to
's; the text seems to call forth a certain kind of melody. Each of the seven
songs has a different relationship to the text, depending on the nature of the
lyrics. Soprano
Laura Hynes
strikes just the right tone here; she doesn't affect rock or folk flavors, but she also has an attractive directness. A
trio
by
Vincent Ho
, certainly a potential successor to
, makes an effective conclusion. Fans of either
or
, or both, owe it to themselves to hear this release. ~ James Manheim