Robert X. Rodríguez: Review: “Song of Songs”
1st September 2005
Rodríguez’s SONG OF SONGS.... Written as a Holocaust
memorial, the work combines passages from the biblical
"Song of Songs Which is Solomon’s" with a short love
story by Sholem Aleichem....Combined with ethereal
accompaniments on strings, harp and piano, they were as
ravishing as the King James version’s poetry....While
appealing musically, the SONG OF SONGS somehow avoids
both prettiness and anachronism. It is as delicate and
fragile as a piece of crystal, but could have been
written only in the 20th (or 21st) century, after
Stravinsky’s L’HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT.
— Christopher Hyde, MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM
Robert X. Rodríguez
SONG OF SONGS
Duration: 32'
Texts: the Bible; "Song of Songs" written by Sholem Aleichem, trans. by Curt Leviant
Soprano, Narrator; cl, hp, perc, pf, str4tet
Linda Larsen, soprano; Lewis Kaplan, narrator
Bowdoin International Music Festival
6 July 2005; Brunswick, ME