The poem by James Agee has inspired several composers to set it to music. In this post I discuss two of the versions, but first I have to talk about the text itself.
WARNING: INTENSE LITERARY ANALYSIS FOLLOWS!
Here’s the rather puzzling text:
Agee James
Copland Struggles to Put the Struggles of a Poor Farming Family On Stage
As you know if you’ve read many of the posts on this site, I love tracking down the origins of creative works. So “The Promise of Living” from Aaron Copland’s opera The Tender Land has provided me with a number of rabbit trails to pursue in this regard. My choir sang it several years ago as the finale to a concert, and while I didn’t manage to squeeze in a post about it then it’s been on my list of Intriguing Pieces To Discuss.
On the surface the words would imply that this is a harvest/Thanksgiving piece, and indeed some program notes or even sheet music characterize it as such. Here’s how it starts:
The promise of living with hope and thanksgiving
is born of our loving our friends and our labor.