William Hope and Yolanda Vasquez read poetry and prose on a theme of Two Americas, North and South including work by Walt Whitman, TS Eliot, Robert Frost, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda. With music inspired by the Americas from Villa-Lobos, Aaron Copland, Astor Piazzolla and Charles Ives.
Two Americas
Yolande Vasquez (reader)
William Hope (reader)
Producer's Note
The idea behind this edition of Words and Music is to show some of the faces - musical and poetic - of the two Americas, North and South.
I've chosen poems and prose which illuminate the beauty and the underside of the countries, the natural beauty of the landscape and the industrialised cities.
The sounds of the countries are very different - from Carlos Chavez's imagined Aztec music in 'Xochopilli', Aaron Copland's evocative 'Letter from Home', the chants and dances of Native Americans, Astor Piazzolla's Nuevo tangos, Randy Newman's 'Louisiana 1927' and Samuel Barber's 'Adagio for Strings'.
From the South you'll hear Pablo Neruda's beautiful love poem 'Every Day you Play' and Emma Sepulveda-Pulvirenti's 'September 11th 1973, Santiago Chile' and from the North Allen Ginsberg's 'Who Runs America?' alongside Walt Whitman's 'Prairie Sunset' and the closing passage of 'The Great Gatsby', F.Scott Fitzgerald's story of the disintegration of the American Dream.
Fiona McLean (producer)
Running Order
00:00:00
PABLO NERUDA
Discovers of Chile
Yolanda Vasquez (reader)
00:01:09
VILLA-LOBOS
Bachianas Brasileiras
Villa-Lobos Par Lui-Meme
Choeurs et Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion
Hector Villa-Lobos - conductor
EMI CZS 767229 2A
00:02:55
T.S. ELIOT
Virginia
William Hope (reader)
00:03:32
AARON COPLAND
Nature the Gentlest Mother
Barbara Hendricks - soprano
London Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas - conductor
00:07:44
CARLOS CHAVEZ
Xochipilli - An Imagined Aztec Music
La Camerata (Panamerican Chamber Players)
Eduardo Mata - conductor
DORIAN DOR90215
00:10:32
OCTAVIO PAZ
Sunstone
Yolanda Vasquez (reader)
00:13:54
THE FEARSOME BRAVE
Sacred Spirit - Heal the Soul
VIRGIN CDVX 2753
00:14:56
ALLEN GINSBERG
Who Runs America?
William Hope (reader)
00:16:12
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
America
West Side Story
New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein - conductor
COLUMBIA SK 60724
00:20:47
AUGUST KLEINZAHLER
Trolley
August Kleinzahler (reader)
00:21:46
STEVE REICH
Different Trains
America Before the War
Kronos Quartet
ELEKTRA/NONESUCH 7559791762
00:24:27
ee cummings
next to god america i
William Hope (reader)
00:25:14
RANDY NEWMAN
Louisiana 1927
Good Old Boys
REPRISE 927 214-2
00:28:08
MANUEL PONCE
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Second Movement
Music Mexicana
Henryk Szeryng - violin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Enrique Batiz - conductor
ASV CDDCA866
00:35:31
EMMA SEPULVEDA-PULVIRENTI
September 11th, 1973
Yolanda Vasquez (reader)
00:36:17
SAMUEL BARBER
Adagio for Strings
London Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas - conductor
00:44:44
THOM GUNN
The J Car
Thom Gunn (reader)
00:47:28
VILLA-LOBOS
Prelude in A-Minor
Julian Bream Plays Villa-Lobos
RCA 89813
00:52:53
PABLO NERUDA
Every Day You Play
William Hope (reader)
00:54:53
CARLOS CHAVEZ
Sinfonia Romantica
New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra
Carlos Chavez - conductor
PHILIPS 422 305-2
01:00:07
AARON COPLAND
Letter from Home
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin - conductor
EMI CDC-7 49766 2
01:00:18
WALT WHITMAN
A Prairie Sunset
William Hope (reader)
01:06:47
ROBERT FROST
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Yolanda Vasquez (reader)
01:07:20
CHARLES IVES
Fugue in Four Keys on 'The Shining Shore'
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin - conductor
RCA 09026-61222-2
01:10:59
VIRGINIA RODRIGUES
Raca Negra - Nos
HANNIBAL HNCD1448
01:14:40
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS
New England
William Hope (reader)
01:15:24
ELLIOTT CARTER
Figment
Chamber Music
Arditti String Quartet
MONTAIGNE MO782091
01:20:29
OCTAVIO PAZ
Along Galeana Street
William Hope (reader)
01:21:15
HECTOR VILLA-LOBOS
Bachianas Brasileiras
Villa-Lobos Par Lui-Meme
Choeurs et Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion
Hector Villa-Lobos - conductor
EMI CZS 767229 2A
01:23:28
GABRIELA MISTRAL
Night
Yolanda Vasquez (reader)
01:24:03
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Milonga del Angel
Luna
The New Tango Sex-tet
HEMISPHERE
CDEMC3723
01:30:12
JOHN ADAMS
Tromba Lontana
BBC Symphony Orchestra
John Adams - conductor
BBCLJ30012
01:34:19
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Great Gatsby
William Hope (reader)
01:34:58
AARON COPLAND
Silent City
Mark Hill - English Horn
Neil Baum - Trumpet
New York Chamber Symphony
Gerard Schwarz - conductor
EMI CDC 7 49095
