As this long, difficult year draws to a close and holiday celebrations beckon, we thought we might take a moment to celebrate some of the artistic and scholarly releases that have been most relevant and meaningful to us at Sparks & Wiry Cries, as well as to suggest some musical holiday gifts that help support the song community. Read on for some of our 2020 favorites!
Recordings
We’ve been hearing for years that the recording industry is dead, but the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us just how vital recordings are, especially when performance venues are shuttered—and we might further argue that recordings (whether professional or archival) are instrumental in removing some of the historical barriers of access to underrepresented composers and repertoires. Thankfully, there have been some stellar releases to enjoy this year (including a few from Sparks & Wiry Cries staff!). Click on each image to learn more.
Books for Adults
2020 also marked the release of several much-anticipated scholarly books about song composers. Among them were Rae Linda Brown’s The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price and Graham Johnson’s Poulenc: The Life in the Songs.
Dr. Rae Linda Brown’s biography of Florence Price comes at a bittersweet moment, one when the massive contributions of both artist and scholar are only posthumously being recognized, at least on the scale that they deserve. While marveling at the breadth and depth of their respective life works, one cannot help but wonder how much more each giant might have given us had they more time. Nonetheless, this invaluable account of Price’s life and work will be the bedrock for all future research and performance, and is a vital addition to every library—just as Price’s varied, imaginative, well-crafted songs are a vital addition to any program.
Graham Johnson and Francis Poulenc are, by contrast, household names—at least within the art song community—so it is little surprise that Johnson’s scholarship on the great, though often misunderstood, French composer is quickly joining the pantheon of other seminal Johnson contributions on Fauré, Schubert, and more. Complemented by Jeremy Sams’ translations of each song, this book contextualizes Poulenc’s vocal oeuvre while adding depth and nuance to our understanding of the composer.
Books for Children
We would be remiss not to include two of our favorite recent children’s books, Pam Munoz Ryan’s When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson and Jamila Thompkins-Bigelow’s Your Name Is a Song. Each approaches the importance of singing in different ways, from the historical and performative to the quotidien and personal, all the while capturing the indelible importance of song.
Scores
One of our proudest accomplishments this year at Sparks & Wiry Cries is the publication of our first songSLAM Songbook, a compilation of sixteen of our favorite songSLAM premieres and curated by Sparks co-founders Erika Switzer and Martha Guth. It has been extremely gratifying to provide this platform for young composers and performers, and to see this global movement blossom from our very first NYC songSLAM nearly five years ago. Publishing these songs was always a dream goal for us, and while 2020 has seen many dreams and plans dashed, this one still came true.
Concert Subscriptions
While audiences can’t gather in person, it doesn’t mean that concerts aren’t happening. Concert presenters have made numerous adjustments to their seasons and programming to accommodate the health and technological challenges of the pandemic. We hope that you’ll attend our free NYC virtual songSLAM festival from January 11 to 22, 2021, but there are many other wonderful concert subscriptions you could consider as a holiday gift. We’d like to highlight Brooklyn Art Song Society and Cincinnati Song Initiative for their innovative approaches to programming and virtual community-building throughout the pandemic. Please consider supporting either organization with a digital subscription, or explore offerings from your local arts organizations—whether fee or donation-based. The impact of this pandemic will continue to ripple throughout the arts community for a long time to come, and it will take all of us working together to overcome the challenges of this year.
December 7, 2020
