American composer Lori Laitman straightforwardly described her art songs in her own notes to this release: "My goal to create dramatic music to express and magnify the meaning of the poem." Further, she borrows a motto from a singer acquaintance: "A happy singer is a good singer." Laitman's setttings lie easily for the voice and are almost hyper-descriptive. This collection of songs, all composed since the year 2000, includes eight settings of poems by Emily Dickinson, whose atomistic style perfectly fits Laitman's. Other ...
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American composer Lori Laitman straightforwardly described her art songs in her own notes to this release: "My goal to create dramatic music to express and magnify the meaning of the poem." Further, she borrows a motto from a singer acquaintance: "A happy singer is a good singer." Laitman's setttings lie easily for the voice and are almost hyper-descriptive. This collection of songs, all composed since the year 2000, includes eight settings of poems by Emily Dickinson, whose atomistic style perfectly fits Laitman's. Other poems she sets are similarly short and proceed in compressed gestures that the music can unpack a bit. The challenge in this kind of music is not to be too obvious, and Laitman's notes (in English only) go a bit too far in laying out road maps through each song. But the songs as a group have considerable power. Although many of the songs were written in response to specific commissions, Laitman clearly the elusive ability to pick texts that emotionally resonate with her. The texts are...
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