What is ART Song?
Reflection by John Musto
“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling.
A song makes you feel a thought. And that is the great advantage.”
—Yip Harburg
John Musto and Graham Johnson
I’ve been writing songs now, on and off, for over thirty years, and it seems like there is always one more thought to pair with one more feeling, thanks to the wealth of fine poetry in our literature.
Art song (for want of a better term) is really a composer’s way of reciting a poem. Nowadays, poems are so often quietly read from books, magazines and electronic devices, we forget that from its origin in pre-history, poetry is meant to be heard aloud. The song recital (and I emphasize the original meaning of that word) is one of the few places one can still experience the sound of a poem.
For a beginning composer, songs are a natural place to start out: they’re generally not long, the structure is inherent, and they’re easy to disseminate and program. To quote that indispensable purveyor of song, pianist Graham Johnson, “...all that is needed is a voice and a piano and a great deal of imagination on both sides of the platform.” The challenge: combining the idiosyncrasies of an industrial revolution contraption (the piano) with the world’s oldest instrument (the voice).
There are indeed more popular entertainments than the vocal recital - certainly it’s not the stuff of stadium concerts, nor should it be. It is a quiet endeavor, this intimate communion between composer and poem, singer and pianist, and all the above with the audience. And I believe there will always be a place for it.
So long as there are thoughts to be felt, there will be songs.
–John Musto, September 2021
Partners
The Sorel Organization
Thanks to the generosity of the Sorel organization, SongFest has produced its first CD of commissions, many of these commissions were made possible through funding by the Sorel Organization. The Sorel organization also provides the Elizabeth and Michel Sorel Fellowship – awarded each year to an outstanding female singer or pianist attending SongFest.
Hampsong
Through the Hampsong/SongFest collaboration, past materials from SongFest performances, including programs, program notes, video and audio recordings of world premiere works by some of the most acclaimed American composers today, are made available through the Song of America database as well as on the website of the Hampsong Foundation.
The Colburn Foundation
The Colburn Foundation was established as an independent foundation in 1999 and endowed by Richard D. Colburn who was a businessman and philanthropist. Mr. Colburn passed away in 2004, but the foundation continues to be governed by a board of directors. Our mission is to promote a healthy and vibrant classical music community, primarily in Southern California, and to make grants to artistically excellent organizations for the performance and presentation of classical music, as well as for music education and the training of musicians.
The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
The Getty Foundation fulfills the philanthropic mission of the Getty Trust by supporting individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Through strategic grant initiatives, it strengthens art history as a global discipline, promotes the interdisciplinary practice of conservation, increases access to museum and archival collections, and develops current and future leaders in the visual arts. It carries out its work in collaboration with the other Getty Programs to ensure that they individually and collectively achieve maximum effect.