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To an Isle in the Water

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Settings to poems by WB Yeats, Seamus Heaney, ee cummings and others.

Robert Gildon (UK) - Baritone
Ellen Mandel (US) - Piano

In the mid 1990s, New York composer Ellen Mandel began setting the lyrical poetry of ee cummings, finding in his humor and warmth an inspiring richness and depth. Sold-out concerts and critical raves followed, and in time she branched out to include well-loved works by WB Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Wallace Stevens and Ogden Nash.

Mandel’s music combines infectious melodies with modern harmonies and ranges from art song to jazz, from the delightfully silly to the spiritually intense. Baritone Rob Gildon’s singing captures the spirit and emotion of each song, vividly communicating the dramatic and heartfelt experiences of these eloquent texts.

British baritone Rob Gildon was among the first singers to perform Mandel’s songs-to-poems, and he has sung with the London Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Opera.

Jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie has described Ellen Mandel as a “wonderful musician.” She has composed music for over fifty plays Off-Broadway and leads her own jazz quintet in Manhattan.

Reviews

Mandel’s settings of four poems by ee cummings were ardent and spiky… refreshingly organic.
- New York Times

A striking collaboration! The playful poetry of ee cummings set to music by New York composer Ellen Mandel … I wish I could give this CD to every poetry lover I know!
- National Public Radio