William Bolcom, named the 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America, composes in a wide range of styles that include classical, jazz, rock, and other popular idioms. He is also an active pianist contributing to the rediscovery and revival of the works of Scott Joplin and the ragtime tradition. Bolcom's evolution of compositional style can be traced to the advice of his fellow composer, George Rochberg who also, later in life, wrote in a variety of styles. Bolcom has stated that Rochberg helped to show "alternate courses to me when I was still recovering from my experiences in the post-Webern movement." Bolcom has also been influenced by his wife and musical collaborator, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris. Her voice inspired the composition of the Cabaret Songs, set to the texts of the poet-lyricist Arnold Weinstein. Together, over two decades, Bolcom and Weinstein produced four successful volumes of Cabaret Songs, the first composed between late 1977 and mid-1978. Weinstein's texts often satirically examine the underside of life, and Bolcom's settings mirror the quirky rhyme and rhythm of the steamy verses. Of their project, Weinstein wrote: "We wrote these songs as a cabaret in themselves, no production ‘values' to worry about. The scene is the piano, the cast is the singer." The songs reflect the German cabaret lineage from Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht to Arnold Schoenberg.
-- Kendall Briggs
