David Conte

Three Settings of Ogden Nash

Ogden Nash is often cited as our country's best-known author of humorous poetry. His style emphasizes unconventional rhyming schemes and invented words, both features of the three poems included in my set 'Three Settings of Ogden Nash. ' These three poems express a loose narrative of experiences and images from civilized urban and suburban life in mid-century America. 'Tin Wedding Whistle, ' is a marriage proposal. 'Pretty Halcyon Days' is a humorous sketch of a day at the beach. 'A Lady Who Thinks She is Thirty' explores the fears of growing old. : the narrator wisely reassures the lady that 'beauty is timelessness for you. ' To capture this tone musically, I strove to find a stylethat incorporated aspects of popular music, including gentle syncopations and jazz-influenced harmonies, integrated with the conventions of American classical Art Song. -David Conte