Enjoy three works in the forgotten genre of Melodrama!

Melodramas are a strange and short-lived genre from the late 19th century placing spoken word, often in the form of poetry, over a musical commentary designed to heighten and shape the dramatic environment of the text. Though not a new concept in theater at the time, a move from stage to salon saw a brief flourishing of melodramas written for piano and narrator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The genre did not last though, possibly due to the proliferation of the radio drama, or maybe due to its association with the poor style of overacting that eventually took its name.

This album has three works, Max Heinrich’s spooky setting of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, Arthur Bergh’s whimsical setting of Robert Browning’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and the world premiere of Tim Kraack’s setting of Dave Eggers’ collection of extremely short pieces of fiction, How the Water Feels to the Fishes.

Tim Kraack on piano with Tiffany Heaver as the narrator.

How the Water Feels to the Fishes recorded with permission of the author.