Vocal Arts DC’s latest commission tackles the work of Henry David Thoreau
Composer Gregory Spears ambles into Thoreau territory with his latest song-cycle commission
“There’s something very ‘everyday’ about a singer and a piano making a song — especially an opera singer, who actually sings very, very loudly.” It’s a cool, rainy Saturday, and composer Gregory Spears is deep in a discussion of the upcoming performance of Walden, a song cycle based on the work of Henry David Thoreau, commissioned by Vocal Arts DC.
“There’s something very grounding about having instruments made out of wood accompanying a person who has no microphone,” the youthful 41-year-old, who lives in New York, continues. “That’s what brings me back, over and over, to classical music. Because it has that tradition of purely acoustic performance.”
Spears, who is a proud member of the LGBTQ community, says that composing music to Thoreau’s words had its share of challenges.
“I don’t know if you’ve read Thoreau recently,” he says, “but it’s these long, complex nineteenth-century sentences. And yet, the ideas are all about being logical and making clear arguments about the world based on observation, often nature. So trying to set this as a song was an interesting challenge. I liked Thoreau’s ideas about simplicity and directness and taking away all the stuff of life that’s not necessary, all the sort of consumerist stuff that surrounds us. If you clear all that away, what can you see?”
Spears was particularly thrilled to write for baritone Brian Mulligan, who will also perform the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning song cycle, Dominick Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, at this Sunday’s recital.
“Vocal Arts are always engaging these incredible, world-class singers,” says Spears. “They didn’t tell me immediately who the singer would be, but when they mentioned Brian Mulligan, I was excited because I actually went to college with him back in the ’90s. We didn’t ever get a chance to work together then, but I’ve been following his career. So it was exciting to be able to write a piece for him.”
Gregory Spears’ Walden will be performed by Brian Mulligan and pianist Timothy Long on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m., at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $50. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
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