Blue Mountain Ballads

Voice and Piano

By Tennessee Williams

These are 4 wonderful songs, quite varied in style, rooted in American folk music. The lyrics are poems by Tenessee Williams, not always easy to understand, but the settings by Bowles are so effective, that they work really well when you find the right musical approach. For reference, there is...

a nice recording, with some more Bowles songs, by William Sharp. The range is medium, up to high e, with an occasional high f# in the last song. The first and third song are lyrical ballads, the second and fourth are more swinging and blues-like. The edition and printing by Shirmer is excellent, as could be expected. I sure hope that Shirmer, or another publisher will print some more songs by Paul Bowles.

These songs, imaginative settings of Tennessee Williams' poems, are rich in local color. They are gems in the idiom of "Americana" folk-ish ballads, some jaunty and sassy, others mellow and warm. Only four in number, they cover a distinctive range of emotion and attitude. No audience could resist them...

for their swagger and confident portrayal of independent spirit.