Isn't It Romantic?
Selected Composition
Richard Rodgers, "Isn't It Romantic?"
Program Notes
I cannot think of American art song without thinking of Michael Feinstein. Feinstein, with his ernest voice and his considerable talent, has dedicated his career to finding lost songs; he sings them, and by doing so, he brings them forward to a new generation: he gives them new life.
As I listened again to some of the songs Feinstein sings, one stood out tonight: Richard Rodger's "Isn't It Romantic?" Rodgers (1902 - 79) wrote over 900 songs, winning many awards along the way, including an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, and a Pulitzer Prize. Rodgers wrote the music for "Isn't It Romantic?" and Lorenz Hart wrote the words. The song was released in 1932. Alec Wilder, the music historian who wrote American Popular Song calls it "a perfect song."
Here is a link to Michael Feinstein singing "Isn't It Romantic?" from his 2000 album Romance on Film, Romance on Broadway:
Micheal Feinstein sings Richard Rodgers' "Isn't It Romantic"
Marian McPartland (1918 - 2013), the great jazz pianist, accompanies Feinstein on the piano. They deliver a perfect performance of a perfect song.
I created "I Think on Thee," the image above, on my computer in 2006. It is based on Mandelbrot fractals. The title is from Shakespeare's sonnet 29:
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
