About
“A Standing Witness has the potential to become one of the most influential compositions of this century” (Vermont Public Radio). A major collaboration between composer Richard Danielpour and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, this epic work was written for the incomparable mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, “an artist to treasure” (The New York Times), and Music from Copland House, a “bold, “adventurous,” “superb ensemble” (The New Yorker). Commissioned by Music Accord, a consortium of top-tier American concert presenters, this 75-minute-long cycle of fourteen songs and one instrumental elegy for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble is a sweeping retrospective of momentous events and eras in American history over the past half-century.
Recounted in “testimonies” by an identified observer who is revealed only in this work’s Epilogue, the soaring music and probing poetry trace enormous social, cultural, technological, and political upheavals, and summon what Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” Beginning in the watershed year of 1968, the work reflects on the Kennedy and King assassinations, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, the Vietnam War, Nixon Presidency, civil and women’s rights movements, Iran hostage crisis, economic boom times of the 1990s, and 9/11, and continues on to the whirlwinds of the last decade. Hailed by Opera News as “songs America needs to hear,” there is no more timely or provocative work to bring to your audiences at this pivotal moment in U.S. history.
A Standing Witness has been performed at Tanglewood, the Kennedy Center, University of Chicago, and Middlebury College. Upcoming are engagements at Performance Santa Fe, and elsewhere.
Press
Quotes About Special Project: A Standing Witness, by Richard Danielpour & Rita Dove
“…a spellbinding musical journey.”
“A Standing Witness has the potential to become one of the most influential compositions of this century.”
“Redefines what it is to listen to fine music in the 21st-century.”
“An Historic Evening at the Kennedy Center.”
“Dove’s text is inventive, often biting. She gives each testimony its own character and rhythm, its own mood and sway. There is sarcasm, rage, and despair, as well as hope and a tiny hint of laughter. Danielpour’s music envelops the text, heightening the emotion and power, lacing it with delicacy, and ennobling it with both musical grit and dignity. The wide sweep of the score is astonishing and mesmerizing.”
“An incomparable musical experience.”
“Ms. Graham’s gorgeous and resonant voice enveloped and caressed the descriptive words and phrases of this musical work with élan. Her tone was warm … fully in command of the vivid and urgent imagery. Her voice thrilled … with emotive control and sensitive understanding. The exciting Music from Copland House ensemble performed … with fervent zeal and finesse. The stellar musicians integrate in one seamless ensemble, and yet show individuality and style.”
“A Standing Witness is a moving new work which will spawn many a conversation. This world premiere was a remarkable musical experience … a glorious first performance!”
Articles About Special Project: A Standing Witness, by Richard Danielpour & Rita Dove
Opera News on A Standing Witness; “the provocative new song cycle for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble, with music by Richard Danielpour and poems by Rita Dove. Written for the luminous Susan Graham, who gave the Washington premiere at the Kennedy Center and the excellent group Music from Copland House…songs America…needs to hear.”
Washington DC’s Cultural magazine District Fray said “Dove’s fresh, vulnerable assertion and Graham’s deeply moving vocals” Seem to “walk hand in hand. Danielpour’s composition acted as the conduit to link songwriter to songstress and instrumental ensemble, a collaborative foursome that redefines what it is to listen to fine music in the twenty-first century. If a world-class opera could come with required reading, “Playlist for the Apocalypse” would be ours — but if we’re to stand witness to an apocalypse, we’d rather do it with this group.”
A HISTORIC EVENING AT THE KENNEDY CENTER [Headline]”Graham’s gorgeous and resonant voice enveloped and caressed the descriptive words and phrases with élan. The exciting Music from Copland House ensemble performed with fervent zeal and finesse…integrating into one seamless ensemble. Dove writes visceral, pleading imagery that’s biblical in cadence, and Danielpour’s music is a veritable feast of moods.”
Photos
Media
A Standing Witness trailer
An epic cycle by Richard Danielpour and Rita Dove in fifteen sections for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble, the work is a sweeping retrospective of a half-century of pivotal events and eras in American history, since the watershed year of 1968.
Music from Copland House: Carol Wincenc, flute; Benjamin Fingland, clarinet; Suliman Tekalli, violin; Melissa Reardon, viola; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Michael Boriskin, piano
Commissioned by Music Accord and Copland House for Susan Graham and Music from Copland House.
Trailer: Bay Area video editor Eric Pomert