She Who Knows Strange Songs (2024)
16 minutes
for Mezzo Soprano, Violin and Violoncello
1. In My Mind
2. Achilles' Apple
3. Opal
4. Prophecy
Texts by Denise Levertov, Sappho, Amy Lowell, and Elinor Wylie.
Commissioned by Chamber Music Adelaide and the City of Adelaide as part of the Perspectives Commissions Cultural Strategic Partnership.
First performance by Cheryl Pickering (Mezzo Soprano), Helen Ayres (Violin) and Thomas Marlin (Cello) at the Adelaide Town Hall on May 10th 2024
Archival recording available upon request.
16 minutes
for Mezzo Soprano, Violin and Violoncello
1. In My Mind
2. Achilles' Apple
3. Opal
4. Prophecy
Texts by Denise Levertov, Sappho, Amy Lowell, and Elinor Wylie.
Commissioned by Chamber Music Adelaide and the City of Adelaide as part of the Perspectives Commissions Cultural Strategic Partnership.
First performance by Cheryl Pickering (Mezzo Soprano), Helen Ayres (Violin) and Thomas Marlin (Cello) at the Adelaide Town Hall on May 10th 2024
Archival recording available upon request.
Helen Ayers, Cheryl Pickering and Thomas Marlin Photo © Jason Mildwaters
She Who Knows Strange Songs is a song-cycle for mezzo-soprano, violin and cello. The four songs are seing of poems by four different female poets: three early twentieth-century American poets, and the ancient Greek poet Sappho. The words were chosen for their honest and non-stereotypical perspectives on who a woman might be, how she might act, who she might love, and how she might choose to show up in the world. Our protagonist sits outside of expected societal norms, opting for truth over kindness, and solitude over conventionality.
The texts were selected by Cheryl Pickering, in consultation with Anne, for a new work she is creating based on the life of Julie D’Aubigny. A seventeenth century singer and swordswoman known for her unconventional approach to life, D’Aubigny is a fascinating historical role model for women seeking to live unconstrained by social conventions and expectations. These four songs will eventually find their place within the full production. In addition, they have been crafted into this song cycle which stands independently as a provocation to the tension between social expectations and individual choice.
Anne Cawrse, March 2024
The texts were selected by Cheryl Pickering, in consultation with Anne, for a new work she is creating based on the life of Julie D’Aubigny. A seventeenth century singer and swordswoman known for her unconventional approach to life, D’Aubigny is a fascinating historical role model for women seeking to live unconstrained by social conventions and expectations. These four songs will eventually find their place within the full production. In addition, they have been crafted into this song cycle which stands independently as a provocation to the tension between social expectations and individual choice.
Anne Cawrse, March 2024