Day may at last be dawning for unjustly obscure American composer Margaret Ruthven Lang, thanks to the vision, determination and performing excellence of tenor Donald George and pianist Lucy Mauro. Love is Everywhere, their recent Delos release of Lang’s selected Art Songs, is beginning to attract positive international attention, indicating that Lang (1867-1972) – after nearly a century of sad neglect – may well be on her way to reclaiming her rightful status as an important American composer.
We at Delos have recently taken steps to expand our distribution base and press coverage abroad – and the first fruit of these efforts is a glowing review of Love is Everywhere from Margarida Mota-Bull of Musicweb International: a well-respected United Kingdom review site. Ms. Mota-Bull’s obvious delight with Lang’s music prompted her to go the extra mile and conduct a detailed and revealing interview via email with the performers.
Allow me to whet your appetite with some telling review excerpts. Ms. Mota-Bull homed straight in to the heart of the music’s appeal, writing, “… I found (all of the songs) not only extremely accomplished but also possessed of an incredible freshness that both touched and moved me. Love is everywhere, Irish Love Song … and Snowflakes … are exquisitely beautiful pieces, with appealing melodies, where text and music merge in perfect harmony … Lang’s music is witty, full of a fine, subtle sense of humour, wonderfully demonstrated in the amusing though refined lines of the ‘Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures Songs.’ Moreover, I was amazed at her extraordinary talent to illustrate the poems in music.”
Our perceptive reviewer further praised the album’s performers, noting that “Throughout the disc, I had the impression that this recording was a labour of love for tenor Donald George and pianist Lucy Mauro … (their) care and dedication in performing and bringing these songs to the general public is patent in every single track of the CD. Undoubtedly, there is a great musical rapport between the two, creating a harmonious partnership between voice and piano … George is in great form here and Lang’s pieces suit his voice. He sings them with obvious enjoyment and great expression, as if narrating a story in song. His tone is very warm and his diction crystal clear … Mauro’s piano accompaniment serves George’s vocals perfectly … (she) performs the pieces with apparent delight and marvellous clarity, displaying not only an excellent technique but also a detailed understanding of Lang’s scores.”
Finally, Mota-Bull also had some good things to say about the album’s sound quality, liner notes, packaging, and the usefulness of its companion data disc (containing texts, scores, selected manuscripts and more). You can enjoy both her complete review and interview right HERE.
For reasons that remain unclear, Lang – a shy and unassuming lady – stopped composing in 1919, and destroyed most of her unpublished scores, to include those of her choral and orchestral compositions. This was despite the fact that her music was widely admired and critically acclaimed, even in an era when the musical establishment tended to scorn the creative abilities of women. Take, for example, the following excerpt from the program notes for a 1901 Baltimore Symphony concert:
“Among the most prominent American women, whose position in the front rank of the best modern composers is no longer a question, stands Miss Margaret Ruthven Lang of Boston.”
The Delos team therefore invites you to join us in our exciting journey of re-discovery, as we place this amazing woman’s works before the musical public once again – in the hopeful expectation that her long-forgotten reputation will soon be restored. Delos will release Volume II of her lovely songs in January, and a collection of her choral works is in the planning stages.
And YOU, dear Delos fans, can be part of the process!
… Lindsay Koob
Love is Everywhere:
Songs of Margaret Ruthven Lang, Vol. 1
Donald George, tenor
Lucy Mauro, piano
CD + CD-ROM
CD-ROM Includes PDFs of All Sheet Music!
Margaret Ruthven lang was the first American woman composer to have works performed by major symphony orchestras in the US, beginning with the Boston Symphony under Nikisch. Her musical family associations included Liszt, Wagner, Dvorak and Paderewski. She studied in Munich with prominent teachers of the time, and in the U.S. with such figures as Chadwick, Paine and MacDowell. These delightful songs are mostly in the Late Romantic tradition. Donald George and Lucy Mauro are currently performing these songs internationally. Donald says: “Hers is a music of remarkable freshness and originality.” The companion disc also contains printable song text for both volumes, and a list of the songs categorized by degree of difficulty: a valuable resource for singers, teachers and students.