{"id":667,"date":"2023-08-09T19:06:12","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T23:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/?p=667"},"modified":"2025-10-19T07:31:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:31:25","slug":"poetry-themed-music-by-pamela-marshall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/poetry-themed-music-by-pamela-marshall\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry-Themed Music by Pamela Marshall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to birds and nature, I am often inspired by poetry. Recently I’ve written a lot of choral music, which usually needs poetry. But this post is about instrumental music that is connected to poetry in some way. I’ve written pieces structured to match the poem’s structure, that follow the rhythm of the text, that reflect on a line or just the title, or that reflect the poem’s ideas in an intuitive way. I have a series of solo pieces that interpret a poem in some way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you perform one of these pieces, consider reading the poem before you play, or have a friend read it. In my experience, audiences have enjoyed hearing the connection between the words and music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of my poetry-inspired pieces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Strings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rising for viola<\/a><\/strong> or Rising for cello<\/a><\/strong>
“I Rise” by Maya Angelou<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinteto sobre los poemas de Carlos Pintado<\/strong><\/a> for violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano
A 30-minute piece with four movements closely tied to poems by Cuban-American poet Carlos Pintado<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth Becoming<\/a><\/strong> for string quartet
“The Process” by May Swenson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woodwinds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

High Flight<\/strong><\/a> for flute
\u201cHigh Flight\u201d by John Gillespie Magee, an inspiration to aviators and astronauts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mirror of Diana<\/a><\/strong> for flute & percussion
Two pieces inspired by individual lines in the poem \u201cMirror of Diana\u201d by Victorian-era poet Mathilde Blind<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the Storm<\/strong><\/a> for oboe
“La Mer” by Oscar Wilde<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returning<\/a><\/strong> for clarinet
“Natural History” by E.B. White<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer Into Winter<\/a><\/strong> for clarinet
“Sonnet #5” by William Shakespeare<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Am the Wind<\/a><\/strong> for bassoon
“i Am the Wind” by Zo\u00eb Akins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unabashed Promotion<\/a><\/strong> for bassoon
On the Cackling of a Hen” by John Bunyan, 17th-century writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brass<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sunrise on the Hills<\/a><\/strong> for horn
\u201cSunrise on the Hills\u201d, an early poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to Stand and Stare<\/a><\/strong> for trumpet
“Leisure” by William Henry Davies, Welsh poet who died in 1940<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Field Farm, Williamstown, MA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In addition to birds and nature, I am often inspired by poetry. Recently I’ve written a lot of choral music, which usually needs poetry. But this post is about instrumental music that is connected to poetry in some way. I’ve written pieces structured to match the poem’s structure, that follow the rhythm of the text, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[155,73],"class_list":["post-667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-catalog","tag-poetry-inspired","tag-spindrift-music-catalog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spindrift.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}