Amanda Gorman's poetry and Bach's music offer joint message of hope
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Jan Vogler plays a 1707 Stradivari cello made during Bach's lifetime. He compares it to learning to swim in an Olympic pool: "the pressure on me is more to have imagination to match the instrument."Zayrha Rodriguez / NPR -
Poet Amanda Gorman reads a poem during the 59th presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2021.Patrick Semansky / AFP via Getty Images -
Amanda Gorman declares herself a "huge fan of the cello," noting it's "one of the instruments I relate to the most," and enjoys writing to its music.Danny Williams / Sun Literary Arts
When internationally acclaimed cellist Jan Vogler saw Amanda Gorman recite a poem at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, he instantly became a fan.
"What I admire about Amanda is her optimism that is really visionary, and we need that, I think, in our time," Vogler told NPR's Michel Martin.
Gorman was making history as America's youngest inaugural poet. Around the same time, a documentary was in the works about Vogler's collaboration with actor Bill Murray, whose amusing readings and occasional dancing punctuated a piano trio. So Vogler had an idea: what about pairing the Bach Cello Suites with Gorman's poetry? The two join forces on stage at New York's Carnegie Hall on Saturday, Feb. 17.
"We're bringing something from the past into a modern, contemporary feel. And we're doing it with poetry that I have never performed with music before," said Gorman, a self-avowed "huge fan of cello." It's unclear whether the collaboration is a one-off event or whether it might organically lead to additional public happenings.
Johann Sebastian Bach's six Cello Suites — believed to have been composed between 1717 and 1723 — are a staple of the instrument's repertoire. Cellists usually begin playing some of the movements early on, returning to them repeatedly over the course of their lives.
At turns simple and complex, the suites express the whole range of human emotions. Performing, and especially recording, the entire set is dubbed the "Mount Everest" of cellists. Vogler has already completed the feat.
For their joint project, Gorman reads some of her poetry, including "New Day's Lyric," while Vogler plays the first, third and fifth Bach cello suites. That poem speaks of struggle and resilience, ending with "Come over, join this day just begun. / For wherever we come together, / We will forever overcome."
Vogler describes the first suite, in G Major, as "innocent." He then plays the fifth suite, in C minor with the A string tuned down scordatura to a G, which creates a darker sound world – so somber in fact that it's common fare at funerals. Yo-Yo Ma performed the suite's spare and desolate Sarabande as the names of the dead were recited at the World Trade Center to mark the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Bach's heavy personal losses — 10 of his 20 children died before reaching adulthood and his first wife died while he was traveling — explain the pain expressed here, according to Vogler.
An intermission breaks up the program that then launches into the C Major suite — the third one — which Vogler calls "glorious" and "very optimistic."
Music and poetry are like two sides of the same coin. "Poetry, there's this in between the words, and with music, it's the same — in between the notes, actually, the real message happens," said Vogler, who plays a 1707 cello made by famed Cremona luthier Antonio Stradivari during Bach's time. "The whole Bach suites are about humanity, about feelings, about lows and highs."
The radio version of this story was edited by Olivia Hampton and produced by Taylor Haney, with engineering from Zac Coleman and Neil Tevault. The digital version was edited by Majd al-Waheidi.
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Transcript
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Poet Amanda Gorman made history when she delivered a poem at President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, when she became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Now she's joining forces with Jan Vogler, a German-born cellist who performs around the world and leads two music festivals in Germany. Over the course of an evening at New York's Carnegie Hall on February 17, she will recite her poetry while Vogler performs some of the Bach Cello Suites. And I had the opportunity to sit down with both of them in advance of the program to hear more about it. Welcome to you both. It's so good to talk with both of you.
AMANDA GORMAN: Hello.
JAN VOGLER: Thank you, Michel.
MARTIN: So first of all, how did the idea for this project first come together? Jan, I'm going to assume you made the first move because you have done something sort of similar with the actor Bill Murray, and it ended up in a documentary film. How did this program come about?
VOGLER: I've played the Bach suites for such a long time, and I had the thought of playing them at Carnegie Hall in this big room. But I thought something was missing. And I admire about Amanda her optimism. That is really visionary. And we need that, I think, in our time. So I'm very excited about it because I think it will show the Bach suite in a contemporary light.
MARTIN: And, Amanda, what about you? What intrigued you about this collaboration?
GORMAN: Well, one, I'm just basking in the glow of Jan's praise, so give me a moment.
(LAUGHTER)
GORMAN: I'm a huge fan of cello. It's one of the instruments I relate the most to and write the most to. And so when Jan reached out with this idea, I thought it was just fantastic, in particular because I don't think we see a lot of representations of an intersection between music and spoken word poetry.
MARTIN: Say more about that. Is this different from other collaborations that you've participated in? Because you are known for, you know, collaborating with other creatives in other venues. Is there something different about this?
GORMAN: Yes, so I have done a few collaborations with musicians. I think this is different because we're working with the Bach suites, and so we're bringing something from the past into a modern, contemporary feel. And we're doing it with poetry that I have never performed with music before.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Jan, would you say more about what you think poetry brings to the music?
VOGLER: I think music is like poetry. Poetry, there's this in between the words, and with the music, it's the same. In between the notes, actually, the real message happens. And Amanda is a great performer of a poet. When Amanda speaks, there is so much happening between the words and gives you the picture of what the words really mean. The same is with music. If everything is right, you get the message and it's about humanity. The Bach suites are about humanity, about feelings, about...
GORMAN: Yes.
VOGLER: Lows and highs.
MARTIN: Say more about that. I was going to ask you why you chose these suites in particular.
VOGLER: I chose them because they're shorter and I wanted to give Amanda room, because the other suites are longer. The first one is, in particular, kind of innocent. It's the first suite he wrote, it's absolutely genius, but it's simple. And I think it introduces the whole genre. The C minor suite I chose because it's a contrast. I tuned down my A string. It's a dark world. There's the sarabande, which is the absolute low point. So I think it's a great contrast and shows us the spectrum of life.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAN VOLGER PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "CELLO SUITE NO. 5 IN C MINOR")
MARTIN: We were talking about the fifth suite. You modified the cello, tuning the A string down to a G. And it's played in C minor...
VOGLER: Correct.
MARTIN: ...A languid key.
VOGLER: It opens this dark kind of saga world. And in that suite there's a lot of mystical color, but there's also real sadness. The sarabande in particular, my great colleague Yo-Yo Ma played it on September 11.
MARTIN: Yeah.
VOGLER: And I think that shows - I think Bach lost 10 of his 20 children...
MARTIN: Oh, my.
VOGLER: ...In childhood. He lost his first wife.
GORMAN: Wow.
VOGLER: And he came back from a trip, she was already buried. So - there was no cellphones. So he had a lot of suffering in his life. And I think in that C minor suite, there is some of that hidden, especially in the middle, in the sarabande, in the slow movements.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAN VOLGER PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "CELLO SUITE NO. 5 IN C MINOR")
MARTIN: You play on a cello made by Antonio Stradivari in 1707 during Bach's lifetime.
GORMAN: Wow.
MARTIN: Am I looking at this?
VOGLER: Yes, yeah (laughter).
MARTIN: Oh, my goodness. I'm keeping my distance.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: I'm not putting my greasy fingers on it. But what is it like to play on this instrument?
VOGLER: It's a great inspiration. It's much greater than I can ever play. So it's basically like an Olympic swimming pool for someone who tries to learn to swim. So...
(LAUGHTER)
VOGLER: It's beautifully rich in all the registers. It has unlimited resource in sound and different colors, and I can just choose. So the pressure on me is more to have imagination to match the instrument.
MARTIN: I mean, let's talk about the poem you've chose. You chose "New Day's Lyric." Tell us about that choice.
GORMAN: Well, I find there's such a humility and tenderness in Bach's work. And I wanted to do a poem today which I hoped spoke to that spirit.
MARTIN: I understand that you are actually going to give us a treat.
GORMAN: Yes (laughter).
VOGLER: This is really something we're doing just for NPR, for your wonderful show. We are actually doing now poem and music together. Amanda, I'm excited.
GORMAN: I am, too. Let's do it. This is "New Day's Lyric."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GORMAN: May this be the day we come together. Mourning, we come to mend. Withered, we come to weather. Torn, we come to tend.
MARTIN: This is Jan Vogler and poet Amanda Gorman. They are performing together at New York's Carnegie Hall on February 17. And I want to mention that Amanda Gorman's poetry collection, "Call Us What We Carry," came out on paperback last month.
GORMAN: Know what we've fought need not be forgot nor for none. It defines us, binds us as one. Come over, join, this day just begun. For wherever we come together, we will forever overcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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