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Joined: October 22 2005
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Topic: Syntheses of poetry and music Posted: August 29 2017 at 16:42
I just finished listening to Laiminlyödyn maailman todistus, one of the collaboration albums by the Finnish poet J. K. Ihalainen and the Hungarian artist Sándor Vály. The way I would describe these albums is as thus: The words definitely stands out more than the fairly simple and repetitive music, but on the other hand the pieces are more than just poetry readings with music slapped over them. The poems were specifically written to be read out loud and they have a very specific rhythm to them. I've heard them performed live with and without the music, and while the accompaniment is not essential it does add significantly to the experience.
An example:
I'm wondering whether similar stuff by other poets exist, because I can't really think of any off the top of my head? Something that's spoken word but still musical, something that would fall between poets who present their poetry as songs (Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen) and poets/prosaists who posthumously get their readings mixed over a jazzy beat on Youtube (William Burroughs).
Also feel free to discuss any poetry-related albums in general in this thread.
Joined: September 30 2006
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Posted: August 29 2017 at 17:47
I used to have debates with musician friends about what comes first in songwriting, what goes with or over what, etc. We determined that generally, as traditional songwriting goes, one writes the music first; words are added to already existing music and not vice-versa. And though there are times when a poem or lyric may come first, usually they complement a chord progression the way a harmony or lead instrument would.
But that's a somewhat different subject than what you speak of. Thought I'd share anyway.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
Joined: November 06 2012
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Posted: September 01 2017 at 08:37
Enablers would be worth checking out, even though they are a but more traditional, musically and likely poetically (he reminds me most of Jim Harrison). Their vocalist is a published poet who speaks his poetry over the music, falling in and out of rhythm. The music and poetry are sort of integral to one another. There are other bands who do this, but not nearly as well. Some of them can get pretty cringy.
David Sylvian may have done something like this in one of his several collaborations.
Edited by Polymorphia - September 01 2017 at 08:38
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