UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 22, Page 1
March 4, 1993
Research on British poet results in authentic CDs

     The lyric poetry of Abraham Cowley, the diverse and talented
17th-century English writer, was a source of inspiration to composers of
his time, including Pietro Reggio, William King, Henry Purcell and John
Blow.
     Now, thanks to the research of Thomas Calhoun, professor of English,
and J. Robert King, professor emeritus of music, music lovers will soon be
able to hear the poet's songs as they were written and sung centuries ago.
     Calhoun serves as chief editor of a six-volume study of the life and
works of Cowley, and King is the project's music editor.
     The second volume of the project, scheduled for publication next month
by the University of Delaware/Associated University Presses, contains The
Mistress, a series of love poems, and 60 songs inspired by these poems.
     King did extensive research on the musical settings of Cowley's poetry
for the second volume and transcribed the music so it could be understood
by modern singers and musicians for performance.
     With the musical scores in hand, Calhoun began to investigate the
possibility of musicians performing the songs in concert.
     "When I started asking who might want to perform these songs, the
British group called The Consort of Musicke was recommended again and
again. Its repertoire features Renaissance English and Italian music," he
said.
     Calhoun contacted Anthony Rooley, the Consort's founder and director,
and he was interested in the songs. Calhoun sent them off , hoping for the
inclusion of some of the songs in a concert. Instead, much to his surprise,
Rooley decided to record a CD of The Mistress and asked Calhoun to act as a
consultant.
     Established in 1969, the Consort of Musicke has won accolades
worldwide for its revival and performance of early English and Italian
music. The group, which has made more than 50 recordings, was awarded the
Grand Prix du Disque in France in 1989 and the Prix Caecilia de l'Union de
la Press Musicale Belge in 1990. The group includes singers Emma Kirkby,
Evelyn Tubb, Joseph Conwell, Andrew King and Simon Grant, with Michael
Fields on the lute and theorbo, and Alan Wilson on the organ and
harpsichord.
     Last month, Calhoun traveled to London to work with the group for two
weeks before the actual recording, interpreting the text for the singers
during rehearsals.
     The Mistress can be read on two levels, Calhoun explained. The poems
are about the quest for ideal love and the loss of that love. The lover
suffers rejection but gains the wisdom of recognizing his foolishness. Some
of the poems reflect his travails, and some are written from the woman's
viewpoint. The underlying counterpoint of The Mistress is the loss of the
British monarchy, the imprisonment and execution of Charles I and the
flight of the queen and court to Paris from 1644-1660.
     These poems are topical and timely, Calhoun said, in light of the
present-day "fall" of the monarchy.
     The Consort performers wanted to be as historically authentic as
possible, and Calhoun coached them in the stylization of the text. In his
poetry, Cowley used capitalization and italics to convey inflections and
gestures, some of which correspond to illustrations printed in Chirologia
(The Art of Gesture), a book published in 1644. The printed text of The
Mistress is keyed for stylized performance, and the Consort singers were
able to incorporate the poet's signals by shifting dynamics.
     Although for the recording the visual gestures, such as hand movements
and the positioning of the body and head, were unnecessary, they conveyed
the conventions of the day, and the singers may wish to incorporate them
into a concert later, Calhoun said.
     The actual recording of The Mistress took place in Forde Abbey, a
privately owned, historical building in Devon. The medieval setting, the
acoustics of its great hall, plus the hospitality of the Mark and Lisa
Roper, the British couple who own Forde Abbey, provided an ideal setting
for the recording of Cowley's lyrics, Calhoun said.
     The recording sessions were lengthy and very demanding. First, the
singers and musicians performed a complete song and listened to the
recording and a critique. Then, the song was redone, phrase by phrase,
stanza by stanza. This was followed by another complete run-through. The
editing process is still going on. The CD will be available commercially
early next year, Calhoun said.
     In addition to the recording, plans are in the early stages for the
group's performing in concert some of poems from The Mistress, set to music
by Henry Purcell, a contemporary of Cowley, in connection with the 300th
anniversary of the English composer's death.
     "Being involved in the recording of a CD of Cowley's poetry set to
song was an unexpected but exciting opportunity. Cowley's poetry, as much
of the poetry of his contemporaries, was written to be recited dramatically
or sung. This recording is the first performance version of his work in our
century," Calhoun said.
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure