Roundup of Texas Art Song Composers
Mark Landson, composer
Selections from the song cycle “Nothing Gold Can Stay” - Text by Robert Frost
Performed by: Keron Jackson, bass, Brian Bentley, piano
1. Fire and Ice
2. Acquainted with the Night
3. Nothing Gold Can Stay
Notes from the composer, Mark Landson:
I first came to the poetry of the great American poet Robert Frost in the ninth grade, as we studied his poem “Mending Wall”, which has held a special place in my heart since then. When I began to compose art songs, Frost was foremost in my mind to tackle when I felt ready. When that time came, I spent about two years working out the cycle “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, which finally came into being. The full cycle of 20 minutes comprises seven of his most famous poems, of which three are presented today. It was premiered in its soprano version in August 2021. This is the first performance of a male voice performing part of the cycle, and Keron Jackson’s instrument and artistry brings an especially profound quality to the songs here.
“Fire and Ice” shows Frost’s dark wit, and was written after Frost heard of a scientific debate involving the end of the universe, and whether the universe would expand indefinitely, or contract back upon itself, producing another “Big Bang” explosion.
“Acquainted with the Night” is a personal confession of his struggles with depression. Its rhyme scheme of ABA BCB CDC DED AA shows his genius in creating an intense emotional flow while following a strict formal structure.
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” tells of the ephemeral quality of beauty, and how the most beautiful and special things are also the most fleeting. I wanted to parallel that idea in the creation of a song which was similarly ephemeral and fleeting, yet transcendently beautiful.
- Mark Landson
1. Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
2. Acquainted with the Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
3. Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Selections from the song cycle “Nothing Gold Can Stay” - Text by Robert Frost
Performed by: Keron Jackson, bass, Brian Bentley, piano
1. Fire and Ice
2. Acquainted with the Night
3. Nothing Gold Can Stay
Notes from the composer, Mark Landson:
I first came to the poetry of the great American poet Robert Frost in the ninth grade, as we studied his poem “Mending Wall”, which has held a special place in my heart since then. When I began to compose art songs, Frost was foremost in my mind to tackle when I felt ready. When that time came, I spent about two years working out the cycle “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, which finally came into being. The full cycle of 20 minutes comprises seven of his most famous poems, of which three are presented today. It was premiered in its soprano version in August 2021. This is the first performance of a male voice performing part of the cycle, and Keron Jackson’s instrument and artistry brings an especially profound quality to the songs here.
“Fire and Ice” shows Frost’s dark wit, and was written after Frost heard of a scientific debate involving the end of the universe, and whether the universe would expand indefinitely, or contract back upon itself, producing another “Big Bang” explosion.
“Acquainted with the Night” is a personal confession of his struggles with depression. Its rhyme scheme of ABA BCB CDC DED AA shows his genius in creating an intense emotional flow while following a strict formal structure.
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” tells of the ephemeral quality of beauty, and how the most beautiful and special things are also the most fleeting. I wanted to parallel that idea in the creation of a song which was similarly ephemeral and fleeting, yet transcendently beautiful.
- Mark Landson
1. Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
2. Acquainted with the Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
3. Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Mark Landson
Mark Landson is a violinist, violist, composer, the founder and Director of Open Classical, and the founder and violist of contemporary music group Neo Camerata. He has been featured by the Dallas Observer in their “Top 100 Creatives in Dallas” series, by DFW arts website TheaterJones in their “Forward Thinkers” series, and through numerous other broadcast interviews and press articles as a prolific contributor to the creative culture of North Texas. Mr. Landson has performed throughout the United States and Europe as a member of various orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic, the New American Chamber Orchestra, and La Orquesta de Granada (the Orchestra of Granada, Spain).
Mark Landson is a violinist, violist, composer, the founder and Director of Open Classical, and the founder and violist of contemporary music group Neo Camerata. He has been featured by the Dallas Observer in their “Top 100 Creatives in Dallas” series, by DFW arts website TheaterJones in their “Forward Thinkers” series, and through numerous other broadcast interviews and press articles as a prolific contributor to the creative culture of North Texas. Mr. Landson has performed throughout the United States and Europe as a member of various orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Rochester Philharmonic, the New American Chamber Orchestra, and La Orquesta de Granada (the Orchestra of Granada, Spain).