It seems we have been fated to live in interesting times.
In an effort to try to give myself a daily interlude, one in which I try to get as far away from the present moment as possible, I recently began reading Emily Wilson’s new, highly acclaimed translation of The Illiad.
Turns out the story begins with a vain, grasping king exploding in rage during a war council meeting when he feels disrespected by a key ally.
I must admit I have fallen head-over-heels in love with Wilson’s Illiad. Her choice to translate it into iambic pentameter makes the Homeric language leap off the page — even moreso in the audiobook narration by Audra McDonald , which I cannot recommend highly enough. The Illiad isn’t some stodgy old classic — it’s vivid and lively and often quite brutal. Wilson’s text puts you smack in the middle of the swirling chaos of the ancient battlefield, and is a moving testament to the essentially unchanging nature of war across thousands of years.
I was also struck by The Illiad’s many vivid, memorable descriptions, metaphors, and omens involving birds, which are woven throughout the epic poem, right from the famous opening lines (as translated by Wilson):
Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath
of great Achilles, son of Peleus,
which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain
and sent so many noble souls of heroes
to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs,
a banquet for the birds
“A banquet for the birds!” I couldn’t stop thinking about that phrase, so I decided to borrow it as a title. This Birds-of-The-Illiad piece is still very much a work in progress, but we’ll be previewing the first movement, called “The Sparrows and the Snake,” in my upcoming concerts with the NDR Bigband: on March 6 in Hannover and on March 7 in Hamburg.
As I am sure you are all aware, the NDR Bigband is one of the world’s great jazz orchestras. Their recent recording projects have featured the music of Michael Gibbs, Bill Frisell, John Hollenbeck, Nikki Isles, Tim Hagans, and Kinan Azmeh. I’m incredibly honored to be working with all of the fantastic musicians in this band to bring the first installment of this new piece to life!
If you can’t make it in person, never fear: our Hamburg performance, at the gorgeous Elbphilharmonie , will eventually be released on the NDR Bigband’s YouTube channel . And stay tuned for news about the premiere of the complete version of A Banquet for the Birds.
As it happens, one the other works we’ll be performing on this program is “Your Enemies Are Asleep,” which I wrote three years ago, in the days immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s based on the well-known Ukrainian folk song “Nich Yaka Misyachna,” written by the bandura player Vasyl Ovchynnikov. The lyrics are from a poem by the 19th-century writer Mykhailo Starytsky, and the title “Your Enemies Are Asleep” comes from the original poem. Ovchynnikov was arrested and disappeared after 1934, one of the countless victims of Stalin’s Great Purge.
I donated my original commissioning fee for “Your Enemies Are Asleep” to United Help Ukraine , an organization that could very much use your support right about now. I’ll be contributing a portion of my fee for these concerts as well.
Didn’t I start this newsletter by saying I was trying to get away from the present moment? Well, there is truly nothing better for that than losing yourself in a timeless ballad sung by Cécile McLorin Salvant . She’ll be bringing her very favorites, her desert island ballads — songs like “Sophisticated Lady” and “Send in the Clowns,” alongside some lesser-known gems, all arranged by yours truly — to Carnegie Hall on March 27, accompanied by the wonderful NYC orchestra The Knights.
And finally, on May 21 , Cécile will be closing her Carnegie Hall Perspectives series with a performance of a very special piece, her narrative song-cycle Ogresse, arranged by and conducted by me. If cataclysmic wrath is more what you need right now, I assure you: Ogresse delivers.