Singer, poet and artist Leonard Cohen continues to be in the news, possibly because of his upcoming concert tour. Claremont McKenna College has an ongoing show of Cohen's artwork at the Marion Miner Cook Athenaeum, and CMC is also sponsoring the West Coast premiere of composer Philip Glass' song cycle Book of Longing, which is based on Cohen's poetry.
Cohen performed at New York's Beacon Theater last week, and the New York Times had a glowing review of the show.
The NYT also interviewed Cohen and made audio excerpts of the interview available on their website.
NPR has the Beacon Theater concert posted online, and they also have a podcast available from All Songs Considered.
And, this week's New Yorker has a Cohen poem titled "A Street":
You put on a uniform
To fight the Civil War
I tried to join but no one liked
The side I’m fighting for
So let’s drink to when it’s over
And let’s drink to when we meet
I’ll be standing on this corner
Where there used to be a street
From "A Street"
- Leonard Cohen
Lastly, the Claremont Courier had a long write up of the CMC Cohen events, complete with comments from Philip Glass, who is performing Book of Longing through Sunday at the Garrison Theatre on the Scripps College campus. The Courier article, by Sandy and Tom Fasano quoted Glass as he explained some the how he went about translating Cohen's poetry into a musical work:
“This was hard for me,” Mr. Glass explained, “because there were over a hundred poems. So I finally narrowed down the poems I would use to 26 or 28 poems that I would work with. I was able to get the performance to one hour and 45 minutes, and Leonard was happy with that.”
The process of composing the song cycle was truly collaborative. As Mr. Glass explains it, “When I was working on putting the poems to music, Leonard sent me a recording of him reading all of the poems in the book. I thought this is a professional recording and I wanted to put his voice within the performance.”
The overall effect Mr. Glass was searching for was the one many of us have when reading poetry. “I wanted the experience to be as if a reader were flipping through a book of poetry,” Mr. Glass said.
The performance itself can be compared, according to Mr. Glass, “to the staging of a piece of music in modern theatre.” It incorporates music, recorded voice, utilizing Mr. Cohen’s art as a backdrop.
Mr. Glass will perform on one of two keyboards with an ensemble of 8 musicians and 4 singers. “The same ensemble has been performing together since the premiere in June of 2007,” Mr. Glass said. “We perform for two or three weeks and then take two or three months off. Everyone is very committed to the piece.”
Tickets can be purchased at the Garrison Theater, located on the Scripps College Campus, 231 E. Tenth Street. Box-office hours are 6 to 8:30 p.m. before each of the 4 scheduled performances: February 25, 27, 28, March 1. Books and CDs will be available at the performance. Leonard Cohen limited-edition prints are available by e-mail inquiries only: michaelpetit@mac.com.
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