Composer and jazz pianist Robert Benford Lepley has created an inventive tribute to Rainer Maria Rilke and found an intriguing solution to the problem facing all composers of vocal and choral music. Even in the most expert settings, it can be difficult to hear and understand texts when they are sung, particularly when the texts themselves are dense and packed with meaning. The poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke doesn't yield its profound meanings to cursory or casual reading -- it demands careful, thoughtful attention, and time ...
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Composer and jazz pianist Robert Benford Lepley has created an inventive tribute to Rainer Maria Rilke and found an intriguing solution to the problem facing all composers of vocal and choral music. Even in the most expert settings, it can be difficult to hear and understand texts when they are sung, particularly when the texts themselves are dense and packed with meaning. The poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke doesn't yield its profound meanings to cursory or casual reading -- it demands careful, thoughtful attention, and time for reflection and multiple readings. Lepley's Visions Within: Spiritual Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke takes six of Rilke's works and presents them first in a spoken version, lightly accompanied by a few instruments, so that the text is clearly audible and comprehensible. He follows each reading with a choral version of the same poem, sometimes a cappella, and sometimes accompanied by a small ensemble. Lepley's choral settings frequently begin with a simple, chant-like melody that...
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