Yesterday, I literally read one line of musician DON Skoog’s article, “When Words Become Birds: An Essay on Vision as Tone” (in the May/June 2026 “Bulletin” of the Emily Dickinson International Society), and then I ended up writing about poet ED Skoog’s poem “The Carolers.” The entire post is HERE.
However, I concluded yesterday’s post by stating “another line from Don Skoog's article caught my eye. I’ll get to that tomorrow,” and here we are, so let’s get to it! The other line by Herr Skoog that jumped out at me was this:
“As a composer I often work with lyrics, a task that brings new levels of possibility to the writing of music.”
What drew my attention was that opening phase, “As a composer,” for I, too, am a composer – albeit for extracurricular play vs. professional work – and I, too, set Dickinson’s poems to music (and works by other poets too). Groups have performed some of my works at local concerts, and for the last few years, I have presented an Emily Dickinson birthday celebration concert. Info with pics from the first event is HERE, from the second is HERE, and from last year’s concert is HERE. I’m already working on the program for the “fourth annual,” so I’ll write about that soon.
Much of Skoog’s article centers on “melopoetics,” the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between music and literature. It explores how poets and authors use musical structures (like rhythm, pitch, and timbre) in written texts, and how music incorporates poetic or literary elements.
“Where do words end and music begin?” asked Skoog. “They’re both sound, at least when spoken. Is that a clue? Do words resonate differently in the mind than in the ear? Do they change their nature when heard internally? Am I overthinking this?”
Earlier in the article he’d said, “I write music. I write poetry. But somehow when I’m working on the two together, an inexplicable alchemy manifests itself. My mind conflates them in a profound existential synesthesia.”
Skoog pointed out, too, that Dickinson wrote in a letter to a friend, “my business is to sing.”
“Clearly,” wrote Skoog, “the queen of metaphor saw her words as songs. Her poems, in hymn tune meter, literally sing.”
Our styles differ, though, my music and Skoog’s. His works are definitely more “classical” in nature, with text-painting and complex, polyphonic vocal textures performed in a operatic style; most – but not all – of my songs are more lyrical, often – but again, not always – structured in a typical verse-chorus format of mainstream music. Think more Joni Mitchell than Joan Sutherland; more coffee house than opera house.
I found some of Skoog’s Dickinson-inspired choral works on YouTube, HERE and HERE.
However, I concluded yesterday’s post by stating “another line from Don Skoog's article caught my eye. I’ll get to that tomorrow,” and here we are, so let’s get to it! The other line by Herr Skoog that jumped out at me was this:
“As a composer I often work with lyrics, a task that brings new levels of possibility to the writing of music.”
What drew my attention was that opening phase, “As a composer,” for I, too, am a composer – albeit for extracurricular play vs. professional work – and I, too, set Dickinson’s poems to music (and works by other poets too). Groups have performed some of my works at local concerts, and for the last few years, I have presented an Emily Dickinson birthday celebration concert. Info with pics from the first event is HERE, from the second is HERE, and from last year’s concert is HERE. I’m already working on the program for the “fourth annual,” so I’ll write about that soon.
Much of Skoog’s article centers on “melopoetics,” the interdisciplinary study of the relationship between music and literature. It explores how poets and authors use musical structures (like rhythm, pitch, and timbre) in written texts, and how music incorporates poetic or literary elements.
“Where do words end and music begin?” asked Skoog. “They’re both sound, at least when spoken. Is that a clue? Do words resonate differently in the mind than in the ear? Do they change their nature when heard internally? Am I overthinking this?”
Earlier in the article he’d said, “I write music. I write poetry. But somehow when I’m working on the two together, an inexplicable alchemy manifests itself. My mind conflates them in a profound existential synesthesia.”
Skoog pointed out, too, that Dickinson wrote in a letter to a friend, “my business is to sing.”
“Clearly,” wrote Skoog, “the queen of metaphor saw her words as songs. Her poems, in hymn tune meter, literally sing.”
Our styles differ, though, my music and Skoog’s. His works are definitely more “classical” in nature, with text-painting and complex, polyphonic vocal textures performed in a operatic style; most – but not all – of my songs are more lyrical, often – but again, not always – structured in a typical verse-chorus format of mainstream music. Think more Joni Mitchell than Joan Sutherland; more coffee house than opera house.
I found some of Skoog’s Dickinson-inspired choral works on YouTube, HERE and HERE.
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