Eglantine and Ivy - Soprano Voice and Piano

Celius Dougherty (1902-1986) was a pianist and composer, achieving degrees in both music specialties from the University of Minnesota and the Juilliard School of Music, respectively. Although he composed for strings and piano, the majority of his works are for voice. I became well acquainted with Dougherty’s compositions through performing several of his already published songs and later, transcribing and editing 4 Songs on e. e. cummings (Classical Vocal Reprints, CVR5104) and subsequently discussing his intuitive connection to poetry in the article Inspired Synesthesia in Song: Celius Dougherty and e. e. cummings (Journal of Singing; Jacksonville Vol. 76, (Jan/Feb 2020).

Eglantine and Ivy, Eight Sonnets from the Portuguese from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s collection, were Dougherty’s final song composition, completed in 1976, and dedicated to soprano Phyllis Curtin. They were premiered in 2005, from original manuscript by soprano, Maria Jette and pianist Esther Wang at the St. Paul Summer Song Festival in Minnesota.