Syllables of Velvet, Sentences of Plush: The Emily Dickinson Music Project

This project provides an opportunity to explore and sample music in relationship to the American poetess Emily Dickinson. The featured material draws inspiration from renowned, to rarely-heard, song settings derived from her literary canon, and compositions from her own personal music folio.

The project is designed to specifically track the evolution of musical thought and concept within Dickinson’s literary output – from a performer’s perspective. From every day, mundane, and repetitive activity (recipes, epigrammatic response, prayer) to a broader sweep of Dickinson-related themes (death, love, nature, eternity, and spirituality), select examples provide critical connections between often compartmentalised approaches to her life and work, and a valuable survey of literary forms, as translated through the medium of music.