Music Meets Drama

  “Words, words, words, I’m so sick of words” sings Eliza Doolittle in the musical “My Fair Lady.”   Learning elocution from Professor Henry Higgins with assistance from Colonel Hugh Pickering, Eliza’s frustration was understandable.   The two men worked with her to change her cockney-flower-selling accent to an upper class high society proper English accent.   She repeated words over and over until the cockney was eliminated and her “proper” enunciation would fool people at a society ball. What does that scenario have to do with Kendall Banning, poet, and Gena Branscombe, composer?   Well, to be honest, both scenarios are about words, finding the proper words. Composers search at length for inspiring words, whether in poems, speeches or literature, that they will set to music.   From the composer’s heart, mind and soul, a melody emerges hopefully supported by lush   harmonies that combined give a deeper dimension to the meaning of the author’s wor...

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 tra...

Over the past 11 years I have been fortunate enough to purchase some of Gena Branscombe’s sheet music found on either Ebay or Amazon. Sheet music covers from her era could be works of art. It is easy to see that most of her covers were rather subdued which may be have been her choice or that of the publisher. Enjoy a look at some of her sheet music. With a photo of the St. Lawrence river, this song features poetry by the composer who was ever dedicated to her beloved Canada. Schmidt published this song in 1921. As poet and composer Gena's song "Autumn Wind so Wistful" was published in 1911 and republished in 1914 by Arthur Schmidt. Published by Schmidt in 1917, Gena set the poetry of Katherine Tynan. Gena teamed with her friend,fellow Canadian and poet Arthur Stringer to compose this song. Published in 1945 by Arthur Stringer. This is dedicated to the World War II Canadian soldiers. "Songs of the Unafraid" and ...