Sabrina Clarke - Love Songs for Ada

 Sabrina Clarke - Love Songs for Ada

Clarke's writing style is dreamy and lush, whisking the audience away from reality into Lowell's romance.

Love Songs for Ada is an emotionally poignant setting of three poems by American, Amy Lowell (1874-1925). Sabrina Clarke's careful organization of Lowell's poems, Vespers, In Excelsis, and Prime, and insistence on reoccurring musical motifs generates a complete narrative arch throughout the continuous fifteen minutes of song (Listen to the recording here).

Performed by mezzo-soprano, Emily Bullock, and pianist, Christine McCloskey, the Love Songs are well-suited to the romanticized approach of the performers. The work is clearly intended for a lyric soprano, with long phrases occasionally written incredibly high for a mezzo. Despite this setback, Bullock's incredibly expressive yet sensible musicality is perfect for the music.

Clarke's writing style is dreamy and lush, whisking the audience away from reality into Lowell's romance. She creates a pleasant piece for which to listen without any secured sense of climax, only furthered by her musical elaboration of Lowell's constant usage of repeated metaphors. Clarke's choice to conclude the work with almost a minute of wordless humming rather than again repeat the text is surprising, but does successfully contribute to the dream-like state of the music.

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© 2022 Brutal New Music Reviews
originally written and published 6 July 2022

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