´óÏó´«Ã½

Donald Macleod continues his conversation with the Pulitzer and three-time Grammy Award-winning American composer Jennifer Higdon. Their focus today is her vocal writing.

If you were to ask Jennifer Higdon what her biggest musical influence might be, she’s more likely to cite Lennon and McCartney than Bach or Beethoven. Born in 1962 in New York, the soundtrack of her childhood was the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel and Peter Paul and Mary, the Rolling Stones, and reggae. A move to Atlanta, Georgia, and then to a farmhouse in rural Tennessee, added bluegrass and country music. It wasn’t until Higdon was in her teens that her musical curiosity directed her towards classical music. Formal studies followed, and she began to compose when she was 21 years old. Coming to classical music later on, has been, according to Higdon, a significant factor in her own musical language. She’s now one of the most performed living American composers. Having just completed her second opera and a concerto in the past year, Higdon is much in demand, with commissions on her books that take her right up to 2024.

Recorded at the end of May, speaking to Donald Macleod from Articulate Studios in Philadelphia, USA, in an extended interview Jennifer Higdon gives a fascinating insight into her life and her musical preoccupations. Starting with strings on Monday, they move on to vocal writing, the influence of colour on music, the natural world and writing concertos, an area which has now become something of a speciality.

Writing for voice has led Jennifer Higdon to use some original combinations of voice and instruments, and learn how to overcome some challenging obstacles.

Love Sweet
no 2: The Giver of Stars
no 5: A Fixed Idea
Sarah Shafer, soprano
Lysander Piano Trio
Itamar Zorman, violin
Michael Katz, cello
Liza Stepanova, piano

O magnum mysterium
Haydn & Haydn Society Chorus
Christopher Krueger & Wendy Rolfe, flutes
John Grimes, glasses & chimes
Grant Llewellyn, director

The Singing Rooms
III: The Interpretation of Dreams (excerpt)
IV: Confession (text Jeanne Minahan)
Atlanta Symphony Chorus and Orchestra
Jennifer Koh, violin
Robert Spano, director

Cold Mountain
Chorus: Our Beautiful Country
Chanticleer

A Quiet Moment
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman, director

Love Came Down
Maureen McKay, soprano
Stacey Shames, harp
Essential Voices USA
Judith Clurman, director

Producer Johannah Smith