Lyricality

Today's class was particularly thrilling for me in that I have been a student of music for most of my life. Since I have been in college I have had the opportunity to participate in several of MSU's choir. I am currently a member of MSU's Chorale. Throughout the past several years I have listened, and sun many different types of music. Many times there are composers that fall in love with poet's words and feel the need to place these words into a song. Currently, we are singing and e.e cumings poem "i carry your heart with me" Absolutely beautiful! But it is just as you would expect the song is as lyrically, and quintessentially beautiful as the poem. However there is a piece we sang last semester that reminds me SO much of Stevens, and the gibberish story told by Levi's daughter. It is called "Les Noce" or the wedding by Stravinsky. Don't know who Stravinsky is? No worries. He was the guy who wrote Rite of Spring (The Dinosaur part of Fantasia). When this was first performed there was rioting in the theater because of the attendee's reaction to the music. It was unlike anything that they had ever heard before. The percusiveness was supposed to represent the primitive rituals of humans. Though they did not understand it, there was a powerful story behind it. Essentially Stravinsky was attempting to "tell it like it is" Though both Stravinsky and Wallace are not easy to understand, I think it is important to consider that though we do not understand their "meaning" they still have something valuable, and beautiful to say, we just may not see it...yet.