Music Meets Drama

The title of the December 11, 1909 article taken from the publication Musical America was “Women Composers of America – 28: A Versatile and Productive Muse is Gena Branscombe’s, Whose Songs Celebrities Sing” authored by Stella Reid Crothers. Imagine one hundred one years ago at the age of 28 Gena Branscombe was the featured interview in the prestigious magazine of the music world. At the time of the article Gena was studying piano and composition in Berlin yet back in America she was being hailed as an accomplished composer of art songs, orchestral and instrumental works. A well-known authority who remained nameless was quoted in the article, “In her brilliant handling of the harmonic material at her command she is ever mindful of the fact that a melody is meant to sing – that it is written for the voice, and that the richest resources a generous fancy and an artistic skill may lavish can never justify the creation of a song that is unvocal in character. A proof of the compo...

Dated May the 17th, 1944, Gena Branscombe’s letter to a Mrs. Gladys Ewing Coombes of Forest Hills, New York, written on delicate paper with a New York World-Telegram review of the premiere performance of Gena’s “Coventry’s Choir” at Town Hall lovingly enclosed. A thank you for a beautiful gift, an enjoyment of “Camellias,” the beautiful Browning medley and the enjoyment of sitting next to Mrs. Coombes at a breakfast all carefully mentioned on one piece of paper. A sliver of a look into the life of Gena Branscombe during World War II. Once again EBAY brought this beautiful addition to my Gena collection. Now I would like to know, who is Mrs. Gladys Ewing Coombes? How did she and Gena meet? What breakfast did they attend? Maybe this posting will bring an answer to my questions.

In the initial stages of my Gena Branscombe project, creative thoughts and plans seemed to come to me like never before in my life. There was finding Gena’s music, researching her life, making the recording and then, one evening I attended an off-Broadway performance of Elizabeth Perry’s one-woman show, “Sunflower.” I sat in the theatre watching, listening, and enveloped in the life story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. A woman……wife, mother and suffragette activist bar-none and the reason women now have the right to vote. Elizabeth Perry wrote and starred in her own show. Her knowledge of Mrs. Cady Stanton was inspired, her attention to detail in portraying a woman from over 100 years ago - impeccable, and her passionate acting made one feel the very essence of this important historic woman. Leaving the theatre knowing my future would be telling Gena Branscombe’s life story in a one-woman show, though, mine would include music, I had to figure out how this was going to evolve....

Attending the Festival of Women Composers at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for the third time was an experience I shall never forget. Organized by Dr. Susan Wheatley, Dr. Sarah Mantel and their graduate assistant Rachel Hagar, the Festival presents concerts, lectures and presentations on the works of women composers, musicologists and performers both present day and historical. Several years ago, Dr. Laurine Marlow and I offered a lecture recital on the vocal works and life of Gena Branscombe. This year, I attended as an audience member to take in the wide variety of presentations, to meet new composers and old friends. The Composers-in-Residence were Dr. Deborah Kavasch and Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell and Hasu Patel, sitar, was Artist-in-Residence. From Wednesday, March 17 through Saturday, March 20th the days were filled with music by women. Dr. Kavasch presented a Master Class on extended vocal techniques and then performed a recital of her own works. Hasu Patel gave a lect...