A Mortal Melody – Music, Poetry & Song Entwined

A Mortal Melody – Music, Poetry & Song Entwined, focuses on music with a strong poetic sensibility, and the poetry at the center of its inspiration. Exploring the deep and lyrical influences of poetry and music, this new program draws on the mystical, impressionistic and modern– the muses of poetry and music are entwined within the unique collage that defines every Aurea performance.

This collaborative program features the Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Tina Cane performing works of Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake, Alfred de Musset and Maurice Rollinat. The chamber ensemble, with the unusual configuration of voice, oboe, piano, violin and viola, features a new work by Boston-based composer, Francine Trester, Elemental Emily, a song cycle inspired by the poetry of Dickinson, performed by soprano, Sarah Pelletier and Triple-Helix pianist, Lois Shapiro.  Also included is Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano (1898) by the German composer, Charles Martin Loeffler, featuring principal RIPO oboist, Cheryl Bishkoff; Claude Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées (Forgotten Songs, 1886) for voice and piano, based on poems by Paul Verlaine, as well as the final composition of Debussy, Sonata for Violin and Piano, (1918), with violinist Katherine Winterstein; and the Sonata for Viola and Piano, (1919) by Rebecca Clarke influenced by the poem, La Nuit de mai by French poet, Alfred de Musset, a favorite of artistic director and violist, Consuelo Sherba.

Sarah Pelletier, soprano
Cheryl Bishkoff, oboe
Lois Shapiro, piano
Katherine Winterstein, violin
Consuelo Sherba, viola