Michael Tilson Thomas introduces Playthings of the Wind

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‘In my early college years, I began to explore American poets that had been introduced to us in high school. It was exciting, and even shocking, to discover the range, power, and real messages of these writers. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were the most life-changing. But William Carlos Williams, Hart Crane, e.e. cummings, and Carl Sandburg were not far behind.

‘In Carl Sandburg’s collection Smoke and Steel, the images of speed, power, and outcry have a powerful effect. One of the poems, “Four Preludes On Playthings of the Wind,” was especially riveting. It seemed like a kind of honky-tonk “Ozymandias”— a mixture of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Vachel Lindsay.

‘In 1976, I did a rough piano version. The mixture of musical styles was there from the beginning. In 2003, spending the summer in Santa Fe, I brought the sketches into a more continuous form. In 2015–16 I expanded it into a piece for solo soprano, backup singers, bar band, and chamber orchestra. Vocally, the piece is inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Leontyne Price, James Brown, and Igor Stravinsky—all artists I had the pleasure of knowing. I realized that the piece would be perfect for Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, and she became my collaborator in bringing it to life. I am also indebted to Bruce Coughlin for aiding me in realizing the score.’ —MTT