Kathryn Leemhuis and Samuel Martin: Before She Became Fire
BCM+D Records

Issued on BCM&D Records, the Grammy-nominated label of Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance, Before She Became Fire is a classical art song recording of considerable value. For starters, its performers are the justly celebrated American mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis and her colleague, pianist Samuel Martin. Secondly, the two present pieces by three noteworthy American women composers, Lori Laitman, Judith Cloud, and Melissa Dunphy, their works appearing for the first time in recorded form. All involved benefit, Leemhuis and Martin in being gifted such splendid material to perform and the composers in having their works rendered with such care by the duo.

Before She Became Fire is obviously a celebration of the work created by women composers who've been historically underrepresented on the world's stages. That is changing, thankfully, yet there is still much work to be done. With their release, Leemhuis and Martin are doing their part to bring attention to the perspectives of female artists and in doing so enriching the musical landscape by making it more diverse and inclusive. The subject matter of the works holds contemporary relevance too in its focus on mortality, identity, loss, struggle, vulnerability, and resilience.

Boasting a staggering list of credits, the prize-winning Leemhuis has appeared in multiple roles with numerous opera companies and on many concert stages as a soloist. New York native Martin is regarded as an invaluable partner for recital, chamber, choral, orchestral, opera, and musical theatre performances and is part of the vocal coaching faculty of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. One of the things that makes Before She Became Fire particularly special is that it affords an opportunity to experience the artistry of both performers in an intimate and exposing setting. Throughout the album, the works are handled with sensitivity by performers committed to representing with integrity the emotional landscapes navigated by the composers.

Effectively sequenced, the album begins with two works by Laitman, the two-song cycle And Music Will Not End first and a standalone song, “Presence,” second. Commissioned in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the song-cycle naturally meditates on issues of life, death, and legacy and, in the first song (its text by Anne Ranasinghe), cosmic themes such as the universe and the infinite. A rising piano figure recurring throughout lends “Partial Lunar Eclipse, Sept. 7th, 2006” a subtle air of mystery, with arresting phrases such as “from penumbra to umbra to penumbra” lending the song an enigmatic quality. Gently radiant by comparison is “A Pastoral Lament,” whose lyrical tone is emblematic of Laitman's art song style. Its text written by Marcia Menter in memory of fellow poet Susan de Sola, who died from lymphoma in October 2021, “Presence” honours her memory with a naked recounting by Menter of ominous developments and portentous music written by the composer in January 2022, one month after receiving the text.

Cloud's eight-part cycle The Secret History of Water follows, the towering work drawing for inspiration from poetry by Cuban-American Sylvia Curbelo and celebrating the indomitable spirit of women. Ample territory is covered, with womanhood accounted for in all its complexity, strength, and vulnerability. Ghosts of various kinds dominate “The Death of the Tango,” which musically grounds itself in an allusive tango pulse. Piano notes sparkle like a rapidly flowing undercurrent within “The Lake Has Swallowed the Whole Sky” (“Some dreams are like glass / or a light beneath the surface of the water”), and, meditating on things left behind and people leaving others, “For All the Goodbyes” is understandably wistful. "Drinking Song,” on the other hand, flouts expectations by eschewing wooziness and instead charting a brooding and unpredictable path. Moving from plaintive wonder and romantic intimacy to probing self-reflection, the cycle is adventurous in its texts and the musical designs fashioned for them.

Concluding Before She Became Fire memorably is Dunphy's Four Poems of Nikita Gill, its focus the experience of young women of today. Working with texts by the British-Indian Sikh author, the work explores the challenges women face in the “Me Too” era as well as gains that have been made. One of the more striking things about the cycle is that the first three parts are delivered by a single voice while the final one is performed by a trio of a cappella voices. Live, it's performed by three singers; on the album, Leemhuis simulates the effect using multi-tracking. Pronoun usage is important also, with the cryptic first song, “Sorcery,” using first-person singular (“I”) to affirm self-acceptance, the empowering second, “From the Ashes She Became, set in third-person singular (“she”), the pretty, rather Sondheim-esque third, “You Have Become a Forest,” in second-person singular (“you”), and the fourth, the protest anthem “Me Too” deploying plural voice (“we”) to express solidarity and collective strength (“This is our riot act …”).

December 2023