From classical singer Claire Stadtmueller
Sweet
"I do eat chocolate first thing every morning, but I make sure it is dark, fair trade. I have a chocolate background...my Greek grandfather, Theodore Musios, had a story typical of many immigrants. He slept on park benches on his arrival to America, and spoke no English. Indeed, his accent was so thick that even when I was 12 years old, the only thing he said that I could understand was, "Hhhey kids, hhhow you doin'? Want some candy?" He made chocolate in the big brass cauldrons down in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and formed it in tin molds. Bunnies riding on the back of Mama Rabbit, ducks."
Peace
"I was scheduled to sing a recital in Newport, Rhode Island on September 16, 2001. Then 9/11 happened. The sponsors of the recital still wanted to hold the concert. It was a 'typical' recital - "he loves me, he loves me not." I didn't feel it was appropriate given the recent tragic events to end the program with "Meine Lippen, sie kuessen so heiss." (My lips kiss SO hot.) So, I added "Priez pour paix," (Pray for peace) which Francis Poulenc composed just as World War II was about to erupt.
The following month I had another recital. I had little time to prepare, so I made one set of songs devoted to the issue of war and peace. Ned Rorem, considered America's greatest composer of classical song, was born a Quaker pacifist and often writes on the subject of war and peace. I sang his "Ode," on a French text from the 16th century. Claude Debussy wrote "Noel des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons" (Christmas song of the children who have no homes) in response to the suffering he saw amongst the children during World War I. With those three songs I started my project of looking for other songs on the same topic, to create my 'peace product' Sweet Peace CD. (Available at sweetpeace.com)
When I was researching songs I found more songs about war than peace. Also, there was a noticeable difference between countries and the poetry produced regarding the topic: the French have many poems about war and peace, the Germans dealt primarily with psychological peace, and I couldn't find anything from the Italians. The French poets and composers often visited the topic and were quite vociferous about decrying war in a general and specific way, citing their distaste for certain neighboring invading countries. The Germans tended to explore the psychological and spiritual aspects of a troubled mind yearning for peace. I found no songs at all in Italian! Do they only sing about amore?
Amongst the American composers I found little besides Mr. Rorem's songs, and surmised that in contrast to the French, Americans had experienced little invasion and war on our own soil. Rachmaninoff's song described the misery of a poor soldier's widow. I chose to sing the Latvian and Slovakian songs in English for my primarily American audiences. As for the VPP poems - I especially like "Fly to Love" and have hung it so I can see it daily. If you ever saw the extremely disturbing documentary "Why we fight," it is about the promise of a better economy through building bombs and the implements of war that motivates our government to make war. What a welcome idea to promote that peace is good for the economy."
Concert - Saturday, September 11, 8 p.m. at First Church of Round Hill in Greenwich, Connecticut.
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