Music by John Joubert. Lyrics by Emily Brontë

Last Sunday, August 13, among the events in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we have noticed that a quite extraordinary concert was performed. Extraordinary because it's really difficult to hear John Joubert's Six Poems of Emily Brontë, Op. 63 (composed in 1968) nowadays.

Love, Loss and Longing

Marcia McDougall and Alan Graham

Marcia McDougall, mezzo-soprano and pianist Alan Graham present a varied programme including Schumann's well-loved song cycle 'Frauenliebe und Leben,' Quilter's 'Elizabethan Lyrics' and rarely heard settings by John Joubert of Emily Bronté's poetry.

The poems included in the Joubert's piece (we know only three were performed) are: Harp, Sleep, Oracle, Storm, Caged Bird and Immortality.

The Herald covers the performances in this mini-review:

But, then, sometimes these Fringe performances bring out music that you're unlikely to hear anywhere else. Mezzo-soprano Marcia McDougall's recital was a case in point. Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben might be standard lieder repertoire, but Rodrigo's colourful, sun-inflected Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios don't get too many outings, nor do the Three Poems by Emily Bronte in the mysterious, melancholic settings by South-African composer John Joubert.

Last year we already reported a concert performance of Joubert's Jane Eyre opera. You can check that post for more information regarding John Joubert's relationship with the Brontës.

Categories: Music, Emily_Brontë, Poetry