Music Meets Drama

As I continued my work recording the songs of Gena Branscombe, it was my desire to meet any surviving members of her family. After reading Dr. Marlow's dissertation I knew two of Miss Branscombe's daughters had died during her lifetime and then, hoping that genetic longevity played a factor, maybe one of the two oldest daughters would be alive. Gena Branscombe lived from 1881-1977; 96 years! Her eldest daughter Gena Tenney was born in 1910, second daughter Vivian in 1913, daughter Betty was born in 1916 and died in 1919 and fourth daughter Beatrice was born in 1919 and died in 1954. Maybe just maybe, one of those ladies was alive. In continued research I discovered that Miss Branscombe's music was under copyright. Martin suggested I call ASCAP to inquire if there was someone holding those rights. I called the ASCAP office, inquired about the holder of the rights, there was silence so I asked further, "Would this person be old?" The answer, ...

With Martin's encouragement we used David Smith as our sound engineer and guide during the recording process. What a process it is. So technical, the lack of an audience for whom you perform, take after take because the piano bench squeaked or I sang a wrong note or something else went wrong. This is followed by the pain of editing; listening to yourself, Martin's playing then the combination of Martin's work and mine to find the best take to wed together with a few previous measures. A painful process indeed. Finally with five good songs knitted together, I applied to several labels asking that they pick up this Gena Branscombe recording for its unique qualities and its importance to American music especially American women composers. Albany Records picked us up! How thrilled we were! Not only were there Gena's beautiful, melodic songs, but Martin agreed to play four of Gena's piano works. These charming pieces were written for her ...

An art song recital for Valentine's Day, it should be fairly easy to find repertoire to fill out a program. My thought.....what is the greatest love story in the literary world? Why that would be Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning. Is there a a woman composer who set Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem, How Do I Love Thee? Two women-in-music reference books listed Gena Branscombe's settings of six of the Sonnets from the Portuguese as fine pieces of music. Her setting of How Do I Love Thee ? was noted as being one of the best of her era. A small music publisher in Texas had reissued the song cycle, Love in a Life, which included the song I wanted. Who is this woman and why am I now being drawn to her music? When the music arrived I took it to my accompanist Martin Hennessy. His immediate reaction was, "You must record these songs. And, who is she? She composes beautifully." Thus began my journey. Several trips to the New York Public Libra...

Today, I have entered the 21st century technical world. I am officially on Facebook and have this blog. How exciting is that! More to come in the next few days. How exciting! #Bringing BackBranscombe