Margaret Bonds: Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay (ft. Lester Lynch, M. Roger Holland II)

So Lit Song Lit

Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) is probably best known for her setting of "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands", but has an extensive repertoire of art songs, which have a lot more crunch than most people expect!

Our special guest hosts today are baritone Lester Lynch, who balances his international career with teaching at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and composer M. Roger Holland II, from the University of Denver, who runs The Spirituals Project and composed Ubuntu: I Am Because You Are, premiered by Kantorei (as soon as there is a clip, we will add this to the show notes!).

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Gracyn Blu Louis, mezzo-soprano, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

from Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay

• Even In The Moment (performed by Toni)
• What Lips My Lips Have Kissed (performed by Toni)
• Women Have Loved Before As I Love Now (performed by Gracyn)

You can also find more of Bonds' songs in the anthology Rediscovering Margaret Bonds.

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

***
So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at https://cincysong.transistor.fm/.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Gracyn Blu Louis, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynblu

This episode is sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University. Learn more about CMU and apply today.