Faculty perform Baudelaire compilation

Poet Charles Baudelaire has long been considered an inspirational muse, and over the decades composers have translated his work into equally inspirational melodies. After years of collecting Baudelaire song settings—technical term for verse translated to music—the Vassar Lecturer in Music Robert Osborne is producing a collaborative music concert performed by members of the Vassar music faculty. Since 1982, Osborne's idea of assembling a concert with the help of Richard Howard, an esteemed American expert on Baudelaire, has remained dormant. Now it has flourished into a reality: a faculty recital called "The Songs and Piano Music Inspired by the Poetry of Charles Baudelaire" will be held in the Skinner Hall of Music Recital Hall on Friday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m.

The concert will include music by the likes of Claude Debussy, Paul Hindemeth and Gabriel Fauré performed by Vassar faculty, as well as readings of the enduring works of Baudelaire. Osborne described the concert experience in an e-mailed statement as a "taste of the decadent, drug-addled, perverse nature of Baudelaire while listening to fruity, over-the-top, delicious music."

The three Vassar faculty members playing the pieces include Adjunct Artist in Music Rachel Rosales as soprano, Osborne as bass-baritone and Professor of Music Todd Crow on the piano. Howard is the guest poet, commentator and translator. Howard teaches in the Writing Division of the School of the Arts at Columbia University and is former chancellor of The Academy of American Poets.

"Richard will read his award-winning translations of the poems before they are sung and he will construct a narrative thread, using the letters and writings of Baudelaire as well as anecdotes concerning Baudelaire and his relationship to music," explained Osborne in an e-mailed statement.

In addition to works by Debussy, Fauré and Hindemith, well-known composers such as Henri Duparc, Alexander Zemlinsky, Ernest Chausson, Emmanuel Chabrier and Louis Vierne will be performed. Not-so-familiar composers including André Caplet, Aleksandr Gretchaninov, Sergei Tanayev, Henri Sauguet, Alphons Diepenbrock and Déodat de Séverac will also be highlighted. All of these composers either were directly inspired by Baudelaire, or wrote music that sounds appropriately Baudelaire-ian.

"Todd Crow has also found a recently discovered piano work by Debussy that quotes a fragment of a Baudelaire poem—a piece that few would have ever heard before," wrote Osborne. "I have been collecting song settings since 1982 and have over 250. We weeded through these to select a representative selection of the very best or most provocative."
The concert is set up in four parts that explore the different works by Baudelaire that have inspired composers, as well as the different styles of composition. The first section revolves around Howard's translation of Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs du Mal," for which Howard received the American Book Award for his work in 1982. The second is a Baudelaire bestiary, which focuses on the poet's love for cats, owls and albatrosses, among other creatures. The following section covers what Osborne calls "the second wave," which includes the most mature settings by late Romantic composers. Finally, there is a collection of settings by German and Russian composers, a testament to the universality of Baudelaire's work.

Beyond the intricate and careful organization of music selections, performing these pieces is a difficult task within itself. The music is a challenge and is difficult for the two singers and pianist to perform. "It is music that only seasoned professionals can tackle," Osborne wrote. Rosales, however, is capable of delivering vocal ranges from Verdi to Handel. Crow is likewise qualified, with his impressive performance repertoire at venues such as the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Apart from researching, coordinating and organizing this event, Osborne has performed in over 40 roles with various opera, theater and symphony groups. Osborne has also had several television appearances including spots on the BBC Omnibus Series, Soviet Arts Television and PBS.

No matter how long it may take for an idea to materialize, the final product is what it is all about.

"The end result for the listener is…dripping with decadent voyages into Baudelaire's psyche," wrote Osborne. "Their influence is still pervasive today. No serious artist, in whatever field, can escape their pull."