The Rules of Engagement

My fellow UT prof David Small and I rehearsed this morning for our Valentine’s Day recital, which we’re entitling “Mars and Venus: The Rules of Engagement.” The first half is comprised of texts dealing with war, including songs by Ives, Butterworth, Weill, and the stunning “War Prayer” composed by our UT colleague Donald Grantham for a remarkable text by Mark Twain. The second half is a wry and at times unapologetically sentimental look at the other way we try to annihilate ourselves and each other, music courtesy of Gabriel Kahane, UT colleague Dan Welcher, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Ravel, Rorem, Irving Berlin, and Tom Lehrer. I’ll never tire of putting together programs like this. It seems there is an endless supply of music I want to repeat, and an endless supply of music I haven’t met yet. And it is a joy to reconnect with David…shall we say… a few years after first working together!