Ego Scriptor Cantilenae: The Music of Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound (Composer), Reinbert de Leeuw Robert Hughes (Conductor), The Arch Ensemble (Orchestra), The Other Minds Ensemble (Orchestra), Anna Myatt (Performer), David Cox (Performer), Marco Camastra (Performer), Nathan Rubin (Performer), David Varnum (Performer), Thomas Woodman (Performer), Robert Tate (Performer), Michael Bannett (Performer), Tammy Jenkins (Performer), Sandra Bush (Performer), Harry van der Kamp (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Anna Myatt, David Cox, Marco Camastra, Nathan Rubin, David Varnum, et al.
• Orchestra: The Arch Ensemble, The Other Minds Ensemble
• Conductor: Reinbert de Leeuw Robert Hughes
• Composer: Ezra Pound
• Audio CD (April 15, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Other Minds
• ASIN: B00009PSCZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,122 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Jason Serinus, The San Francisco Examiner, March 11, 2001

"Soprano Tammy Jenkins…sang with a voice that offered reason enough to live."

Product Description

Ezra Pound (1885-1972), the path-breaking author of America's greatest epic poem of the 20th century, The Cantos, spent 15 years working intensely on composing music as well. Between 1920 and 1933 he produced two operas and several works for solo violin, composed for Olga Rudge, his lifelong companion.

The first and only available CD recording of its kind, Ego Scriptor Cantilenae: The Music of Ezra Pound features outstanding historical recordings of performances from England, the U.S. and Holland, as well as new studio recordings by the Other Minds Ensemble. Hear this long overdue compilation including selections from his operas Le Testament and Cavalcanti , the previously undiscovered Collis O Heliconii and his solo violin music authoritatively played by Nathan Rubin.

Robert Hughes and Reinbert de Leeuw conduct. Includes an 80-page booklet by Pound scholars Margaret Fisher and Robert Hughes with primary research gained with the help of Pound's relatives.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Consider/ Carefully the reviewer.", September 13, 2004

By	L. Benjamin (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews

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The inevitable question is whether we would pay attention to this music if it had not been written by one of the major poets of the 20th Century. The composer's reputation in this case cannot help but influence our appreciation of his work. I can attest that I would never have purchased this disk if the compositions had been by an otherwise unknown person. Whether they would have been recorded at all is pointless speculation. Certainly the complementary question should be asked: whether Pound's reputation as a poet overshadows his musical compositions to the point of obscuring them, by rendering them mere curiosities.

Certainly no effort has been spared in this recording. The additional price is justified by the enclosed book (it's over 80 pages), which contains articles on how the scores were located and assembled, and Pound's objectives for the operas, both individually and as part of his lifetime uvre. Each track is also fully explicated, and lyrics, in French, Italian, and Latin, with English translations, are included.

In all instances the music sets off the words perfectly. Whether this is the result of Pound's skill in prosody, or the superlative performances recorded here, is a matter of conjecture, since no other recorded versions are readily available for comparison. Pound often employs profoundly complex meters (25/32, 9/8, 13/32, 7/16, etc.) in rapid succession, orchestrated with the assistance of composer George Antheil. The effect is not so much rhythmic complexity, but a freedom from rhythm evoking the cadence of poetic speech, which was Pound's intention.

The disk contains selections from Pound's operas "Le Testament," "Cavalcanti," and "Collis O Heliconii," along with several compositions for violin, all otherwise out of print, and some recorded here for the first time. The subject of "Le Testament" is Francois Villon, while "Cavalcanti" concerns the life of the 13th century Italian poet Guido Cavalcanti. Harry van der Kamp gives a powerful rendition of "Dictes moy," a setting of Villon's famous "ou sont les nieges d'antan." Anna Myatt's delivery of "Ha, viellesse felonne et fiere," or "Haulmiere's Aria" is perhaps the best example of Pound's changing time signatures imitating spoken word. Here, Haulmiere, the old prostitute, laments the loss of her youthful beauty and its attendant power, calling to mind the Rodin sculpture of the same name, sometimes called "The Old Courtesan" or "She Who was the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife." "Pere No" enlists the Biblical Noah, Lot, and Architriclinus, all noted as drunkards, to intercede on behalf of Jean Cotart, a drunken magistrate who had ruled in Villon's favor. As an inside joke, the singers are clearly heard several times substituting the name of Pound's friend, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau, for "Jean Cotart." "Perch'io non spero" has the dying Cavalcanti attempting to teach his page, Ricco, a song that contains a code recognizable to Cavalcanti's allies in Tuscany. When Cavalcanti dies before Ricco, sung by boy soprano Michael Bannett, has learned the song, the boy's despair is poignant.

In the end, whether this music is valuable as an extension of our understanding of Ezra Pound, the writer, is unimportant. It is unique, engaging on many levels, and magnificently performed and presented. We are lucky to have it, and if Pound's reputation alone brings it to us, that is enough.