Americana as Muse: Q&A with Michael Daugherty

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(February 2009)

Gearing up for two world premieres, Michael Daugherty paid a visit to Boosey & Hawkes's New York office. We took some time to talk with him about his passion for Americana and it's impact on his output.

Q: Tell us about your muse. Adams and Copland have certainly found inspiration in Americana but you've created quite a different niche as a "maverick icon maker," as the Guardian calls it. Where does this come from?

A: Well as a composer, I’m concerned about the technical issues, but also the emotional issues are very important to me. So when I talk about icons or using icons like Abraham Lincoln or Route 66, those have emotional connotations which then give me an emotional benchmark as I’m composing; I think it gives a layer to the music that makes it interesting for a listener, whether they know what the icon is or not.

Q: About the imagery involved in so many of your works: do you often work with real pictures and visuals while you're composing?

A: Yeah, sure. When I was composing Letters from Lincoln I actually had images of Abraham Lincoln by my desk. I think images are really important to me because it is a way for me to become inspired emotionally about a piece. It is hard to explain how these images are translated into music, but it just provides a springboard for me to become creative.

Q: Your Letters from Lincoln is making a timely premiere in Spokane this weekend. Our new administration has certainly honored Lincoln's bicentennial (February 12), can you tell us about the inception of the piece?

A: I thought it would be interesting to compose a piece about Lincoln because his bicentennial is happening right now in February 2009. But what to do? Of course you have the great piece by Aaron Copland, Lincoln Portrait, so what can you do differently about Lincoln? I thought the texts of Lincoln—his writings—are something that really haven’t been looked at that closely by composers, and that setting them to song would be a challenge. Then I thought about a baritone, and it turned out that Thomas Hampson—the famous singer here in America—is somebody who is very interested in American culture and history. So I met with him and he was very excited about the project. I decided to focus exclusively on Lincoln’s own writings, as opposed to poets who wrote about Lincoln. And by studying the text of his writings, I realized an incredible wealth of emotions and ways of communication, be it in the Gettysburg Address, which is more formal, or let’s say, his letter to Mrs. Bixby, which is a letter written to a widow who lost five sons in a battle during the Civil War. He was also a humorous man, and I have a poem he wrote when he was young that has humor in it. So in his writings you really see the complete man: somebody who was very humble, somebody who was incredibly intelligent, somebody who had the vision to find ways to communicate to the common man, but at the same time, write prose that was complex, yet communicative. And that inspired me to write this piece.

Q: The Alabama Symphony Orchestra has commissioned Gee's Bend for premiere on April 16 and 17, honoring the African-American quilting community in Gee's Bend, Alabama. It's down to the wire now, isn't it? Are you finished with the piece?

A: I’m still working on Gee’s Bend. It’s funny, sometimes I work very slowly on a piece, and other times it’s white heat. Right now I’m switching gears from Lincoln to, all of a sudden, a piece for electric guitar and orchestra with kind of a rock and blues groove. I’m very excited about it but I’m going to have to spend some late nights composing. I like the challenge and I think the piece will be great, but I’ll probably have a couple nights where I don’t get as much sleep as I’d like to.

Q: Will you attend these premieres?

A: Absolutely. I think its very important for composers to attend live performances of their pieces, especially for a new piece because things may sound different in rehearsal and you might want to make last minute changes.

Q: What's next for you? Any icons kicking around in your imagination?

A: The next piece I'm planning to work on is a flute concerto entitled Trail of Tears which will be a musical examination of the infamous march in the mid-19th century where the Cherokee were forced to leave their reservations by the American Government. The piece will examine Native American music which I've always loved very much, and will also talk about what it means to be a refugee and having to leave your home. So that will be a very different kind of work.

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