With 150 art songs in her compositional output, Gena
Branscombe set the words of famous and not-so-famous poets to music. Her mother's poetry became song and her own poems
set to music were dedicated to her mother and her daughters.
One often wonders why a specific poem catches the attention
of a composer. When reading a poem that
touches their inner feelings, does a melody form in their mind? Maybe the poet approached the composer with
their own works suggesting a collaboration.
Whatever Gena Branscombe felt about the poems she set, her
songs beautifully imbue the words with melody, complex harmony and quivering
emotion that grasps not only the performers but the audience as well. The poets must have been pleased.
As a young ambitious music student, Canadian Katherine Hale (1878-1956) foresaw
herself on the operatic stage with a career that took her around the world to perform
in all the major opera houses. Her
singing career transformed to a literary career. Miss Hale authored travel books, critiques, prose
and poems. Knowing of Canadian/American
Gena Branscombe, Katherine Hale travelled to New York City to interview the
composer. During their conversation Katherine
suggested the two women collaborate on a song based on her poem, "In the
Trenches." The title of the song became
"Dear Lad O'Mine" and was published in 1915. The song appears on my CD. Proceeds from the sale of the sheet music
went to the Canadian Red Cross World War I effort. All was not happiness in this partnership as
Miss Branscombe wrote to her publisher, Arthur Schmidt, that she was not
particularly interested in composing this song.
She had other things to attend to!
Six poems of writer Laurence
Hope (1865-1904) were set to music by Gena.
In the real world Laurence Hope was born Adela Florence Cory. Easier to get your poems published using a
man's name! At the age of 16 she
travelled from Great Britain to Lahore, India joining her father who was editor
of the Military Gazette. She married Colonel Malcolm Hassels
Nicolson who was twice her
age.
Much of her poetry is infused with her life experience of
residing in India. Gena must have come
across the Laurence Hope 1902 collection,
India's Love Lyrics, for
she set two of the poems. I perform
"Starlight" in my one-woman show where the song is positioned during
a time of uncertainty in Miss Branscombe's life. The music and poetry combine to convey imagery of the heavenly stars, sadness, a
sense of despair and unrequited love.
In 1906 Gena Branscombe set Richard Le Gallienne's (1866-1947) poem, "Sleep, Then, Ah,
Sleep." A dark, ruminating poem
about the death of a loved one.
LeGallienne's first wife, Mildred, died in 1894 and I wonder if these
words were an expression of his loss.
The musical setting is slow, with dissonant harmonies and outbursts of
anger. How could a composer only 25
years old comprehend and compose a work permeated with the finality of
death? Richard Le Gallienne's daughter
is the famous American actor, Eva Le Gallienne.
Joining
forces in 1923 for a New York State Federation of Women's Clubs pageant
showcasing the progress women had made in the past 50 years, poet Louise Driscoll (1875-1957) and Gena
wrote "Spirit of Motherhood." Performed
as a choral work for the pageant, it was also performed frequently by the
Branscombe Choral. In 1934 Gena arranged
and published the piece for solo voice.
The words and music are, in today's world, a sentimental tribute to the
most difficult job in the world - motherhood.
Miss Driscoll was born in Poughkeepsie, NY. Though her poems have not been set in a
collection for publication, she
contributed her poems to some of the best magazines. "Metal Checks", an early poem,
received a $100 prize offered by "Poetry: A Magazine of Verse."
The poetry of Arthur
Stringer (1870-1954) and Kendall
Banning (1879-1944) was a mainstay of numerous of Miss Branscombe's vocal
compositions. Fellow Canadian and
neighbor of Miss Branscombe and her family, Arthur Stringer provided witty and
humorous poems for musical settings.
Poet and composer combined forces during World War II to publish the
song "Blow Softly Maple Leaves" honoring their Canadian troops.
Kendall Banning's poems became two of Gena's four song
cycles. Songs of the Unafraid and
The Sun Dial are poems of wide open spaces, wandering, travel, adventure
and the unknown. Miss Branscombe's music
has an expansiveness to it with sweeping accompaniments that challenge the
pianist. The singer rides above the
piano with melody that expresses the deepest part of the poetry. Banning's Christmas poem, "Hail Ye Tyme
of Holiedayes" became one of Gena's most famous and financially productive
pieces. She set the poem for women's,
men's and four-part chorus and solo voice.
Kendall Banning worked in the literary circles of New York
City. His own poems and prose were written
about and described in New York Times' articles. He won awards for his writing. There seem to be no pictures readily
available of him yet his impact on the world of writing was great. It is unknown if he and Miss Branscombe knew
one another.
Settings of Robert and
Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry
are part of the reason I found Gena Branscombe's music. As I have said in previous blog posts, I
found her song cycle, Love in a Life with poetry from Elizabeth's Sonnets
from the Portuguese. I recorded these
six songs and in my opinion, her setting of "How do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways" is plush with the
understanding of young blossoming naive love.
She pours forth such emotion in the complex harmonic and rhythmic
language to express the depth of the text.
Robert Browning's poem "Serenade" from his
collection In a Gondola was the first song I learned and performed of
Miss Branscombe's. She set it with a
gentle, enticing opening line inviting the true love in, then moves forward
with urgency the desire for a life-long love.
One of her most complicated songs is Robert's "The Best is Yet to
Be" where Gena went full force with a motion filled and demanding
accompaniment. The singer rides above
that foundation declaring life's challenges and expectations, faith and
understanding; all the while assuring us that growing old with the one you love
is not to be feared. In my words, she
nailed this piece!
Robert and Elizabeth Browning's journey is one of the
greatest love stories in all of the literary world. Brought together by their admiration
for one another's poetry, Elizabeth's father nearly kept her a recluse because
of health issues. With great strength
she and Robert arranged to meet one another in late evening outside her house,
elope and leave England. She was never
to see her father again. Yet with their
determination to be together for life, Robert and Elizabeth gifted the world
extraordinary poetry that will live on for centuries to come.
With a rippling, complicated accompaniment that surges forth
to accept the challenges and responsibilities of life, Gena composed what I
call her own "personal national anthem" with poetry by Josephine Hancock Logan
(1862-1943). "I Shall Hold to
Life" published in 1934 finds Miss Branscombe's comprehension of the words
to be exactly what she has experienced in her own life. She acknowledges the challenges of being a
leader of women, strives to fulfill her dreams while eager hearts lean upon her
for guidance. It is a joy to perform
this song in my show. Mrs. Logan was a
poet, author and philanthropist. She
founded and was president of the Society for Sanity in Art. She and her husband created the Logan Medal
of Arts prize in 1907 and they were associated with the Art Institute of
Chicago.
Among other poets she set are Katherine Tynan, Anna Moody, Margaret Widdemer, Eichendorff, Harry Kemp, SSU-K'UNG T'U, Li Po,K'AO-SHIH(three poets from the Age of Enlightenment in China), Mary Alice Ogden, Houseman,Alfred Kreymborg, Paris Nesbit K.C., Elizabeth Vera Loeb and more.
Emotions from love to rage, introspection to outburst, self doubt to confidence and always faith in God, Gena Branscombe found a way to set words to music. Her understanding of word painting through harmony, rhythm and melody are attributes young composers of today should study. The human voice is given flowing lines supported by colorful and complex piano accompaniments. From lullabies to lengthy songs of dramatic proportion, she wrote it all. Wed together all these components and you have Gena Branscombe's 150 art songs!
