Dryad, for three vocal soloists, flute, harp, percussion and piano

I. Oread
II. Moonrise
III. To H.D.
IV. Ortus (Birth)
V. Flute Song
VI. Garden
VII. Wild Rose
VIII. April
IX. We Two

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) is a hugely important literary and cultural figure whose influence is only now beginning to be appreciated, not only as a poet but also as a queer and feminist icon. "Dryad" combines poems written by, to and about H.D. and her lovers and literary collaborators Ezra Pound, Frances Gregg and Bryher. The cycle imagines a coded poetic dialogue between these literary figures, whose personal and professional lives intersected dramatically in the early decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on Classical Greek literary forms and mythological figures (among which, Narcissus and Echo, Artemis, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Dryads, Maenads), these texts call to one another in supplication, desire, possession, contempt, jealousy, struggle and resilience.

Dryad was a name with which other poets referred to H.D. – especially as it appears in the very late Ezra Pound Cantos:

"Dryad, your eyes are like the clouds over Taishan
When some of the rain has fallen
And half remains yet to fall
Dryad, thy peace is like water..."

I am extremely grateful to all involved, but especially to Susan Narucki for commissioning this work and supporting the music of our time, and to Kyle Adam Blair for his special role in bringing it to life. 



Christian Cummings, audio engineer
Alex Taylor, composer + conductor

Stefanie Quintin, soprano
Mariana Flores Bucio, soprano
Miguel Zazueta, tenor
Alexander Ishov, flutes
Mitchell Carlstrom, percussion
Tasha Smith Godinez, harp
Kyle Adam Blair, piano

Texts by H.D., Ezra Pound, Bryher, and Frances Gregg
Commissioned by Susan Narucki and kallisti ensemble
Recorded at UC San Diego by Christian Cummings
Cover photo by Alexander Ishov

Many thanks to Susan Narucki, Kyle Adam Blair, Christian Cummings, Andrew Munsey, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Yifan Guo, Lei Liang, Alex Stephenson, and all the performers.

We Two

April (nympharum disjecta membra)

Wild Rose

Garden

Flute Song

Ortus (Birth)

To H.D.

Moonrise

Oread

In Episode 13 of Multi-Verse, poet Eugene Ostashevsky reads five sonnets and talks with host Evangeline Riddiford Graham about mixing humor with horror and the stupidity of war.

Ostashevsky's latest collection, THE FEELING SONNETS (New York Review Books, 2022), is available here:
https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-feeling-sonnets

13. Eugene Ostashevsky: Five Sonnets

13. Eugene Ostashevsky: Five Sonnets

Multi-Verse

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