AMONG THE FUCHSIAS

I spent almost all of August festival-hopping on the East coast of the United States, where the summer weather was in full force. Oppressively hot temperatures combined with high humidity made for a very swampy feel, creating unique challenges for those performances which were planned outdoors, in the interest of COVID-19 safety protocols. While it felt incredible to be back performing for in-person audiences on tour, reuniting with colleagues I had not seen in too long, it also felt…uncomfortably sweaty.

The hot, wet temperatures combined with a little tropical storm excitement had me thinking about a beautiful song by the composer Harry Burleigh, the composer who is often credited with inspiring Antonin Dvorak to turn to African American spirituals for inspiration during his time in America. The song that kept coming to mind as I navigated the tropical-feeling weather was Burleigh’s Among the Fuchsias, from his collection, Five Songs of Laurence Hope.

Laurence Hope was the nom de plume of the poet and author, Violet Nicolson, an Englishwoman who spent much of her life living in colonial India. There are many layers of complexity to unpack in these songs, which are musical settings of poetry by a white colonizer (Nicolson’s father was brought to India under the employment of the British army, and she eventually married a commandant of the British Indian Army) composed by a Black American. These complexities notwithstanding, the song is an extraordinary piece of music, evoking the hot, tense humidity of forbidden temptation.

Earlier this spring, I recorded the song as part of a little virtual jam-session in Berkeley, CA with my friend and colleague, pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg. While I still have a lot to learn about video editing and sound recording, I was still pretty pleased with the result, which you can view below. Hope you enjoy this song, and hope you are basking in these final days of summer as we ease into the autumn.

A giant thank you to the Maybeck Studio for the Performing Arts in Berkeley, CA for hosting me and Ronny in their incredible space for this video.

HARRY BURLEIGH: Among the Fuchsias with Ronny Michael Greenberg, piano

Among the Fuchsias
by Laurence Hope

Call me not to a secret place
when daylight dies away,
tempt me not with tine eager face
and words thou shouldst not say.

Entice me not with a child of thine,
ah, God, if such might be,
for surely a man is half divine
who adds another link to the line
whose last link none may see.

Call me not to the Lotus lake
where drooping fuchsias hide,
what if my latent youth awakes
and will not be denied?
Ah, tempt me not for I am not strong
(thy mouth is a budded kiss)

My days are empty, my nights are long;
ah,why is a thing so sweet so wrong,
why is a thing so sweet so wrong
as thy temptation is?

Text source: https://songofamerica.net/song/among-the-fuchsias/

Cover image: Harry Burleigh