The American composer & husband of the late & great Lorraine H-L died aged 64, in Israel several weeks ago, though this fascinating obituary was published in the Guardian only a couple of days ago:
The first piano concerto impressed me from first hearing as a truly magnificent composition & the second not far behind it. The complexity & massive intellect shown in these works was largely left behind in his deceptively simple settings of Rilke poems written for Lorraine with piano accompaniment. For sheer beauty of vocal line & text his setting of 5 of Pablo Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets are very special. Not least because Lorraine premiered them shortly before she died - the last one poignantly begins 'My love, if I should die before you..' & ends with a tear-inducing floated 'amor'. Last year Gerald Finley & James Levine premiered Lieberson's moving settings of more Neruda sonnets, 'Songs of Love and Sorrow'. I eagerly await the CD.
The first piano concerto impressed me from first hearing as a truly magnificent composition & the second not far behind it. The complexity & massive intellect shown in these works was largely left behind in his deceptively simple settings of Rilke poems written for Lorraine with piano accompaniment. For sheer beauty of vocal line & text his setting of 5 of Pablo Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets are very special. Not least because Lorraine premiered them shortly before she died - the last one poignantly begins 'My love, if I should die before you..' & ends with a tear-inducing floated 'amor'. Last year Gerald Finley & James Levine premiered Lieberson's moving settings of more Neruda sonnets, 'Songs of Love and Sorrow'. I eagerly await the CD.
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