I've posted this before for a similar thread, but I'm really taken with John Tavener's settings of poems by Akhmatova. That's the first of them (there are six in all), for her poem about Dante, with Steven Isserlis on cello and Patricia Rosario's soprano.

Benjamin Britten composed some brilliant music for poems by Blake, easily found online.

A quick plug for the German Lied tradition, from Schubert's song cycles - Winterreise and Die schone Mullerin - through Schumman's Dichterliebe to Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, possibly the saddest music ever recorded. I like Fischer-Dieskau and Kathleen Ferrier for the Mahler. Also, this by Tom Waits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I9GqxDA4ac

Cheers,
John

Yes, John, to the Schubert! His music, including his songs for poems, has helped me emotionally survive the isolation during the pandemic.

Schubert, Winterreise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8UDOmUcxCk
-- Die schoene Muellerin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8UDOmUcxCk

Schumann: Dichterliebe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wxgp8tuW9c

Mahler, Kindertotenlieder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3J2e-L62bY

Andrew: yes to Schubert, as you say, besides these cycles, from the "Ave Maria" to "Gretchen am Spinnrad" or "Erlkoenig." It drives straight into the unsuspecting heart, as the German Lied so often does.

John

Philip Glass ‎– Songs From Liquid Days (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EK1-t-sIpc

Sarah Jane,

And they all pretend they're orphans and their memory's like a train.
You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away.
And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget
That history puts a saint in every dream.
Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit.
And Matilda asks the sailors "are those dreams or are those prayers?"
So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit.
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time.

He's one of the greatest to ever do it - sheer mastery, both poetically, and musically.

J

And just for a bit of a change....Heading off to ancient times: (but don't worry, plenty of explanation provided on the link:)

and because there's so much ancient poetry around, it's open to musical reinterpretation from one gen to the next, which makes for very interesting comparisons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49sclmGOx6U



Here's a completely different style, poetry as ancient as the hills pretty much, and using a horn that was uses as-is in ancient times. I'm talking, R E A L L Y ancient. (info on the link) (it may not seem so but mastering that ram's horn requires a whole ton of skill.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnkb7M3dKTg


.

If more people listened to J.S. Bach every day, the world would be a better place.

https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-232/

And, the pinnacle of music written for cello:

https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-1007/

All the best,
MJ

I like Bach sometimes, MJ, specifically the Brandenburg Concertos. What poems do you think would go well with the pieces you mention here?

Best wishes,
Fliss

You caught me, Fliss. I tried to slip in The Prelude hoping the beauty of the music would outweigh the lack of lyrics. As far as the mass is concerned, is it not poetry?
Thanks
MJ