For this month’s Music Midweek, join us for ENOCH ARDEN, a narrative poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. This will feature Jean and Michael Coonrod & Chris Lane. The event starts at 6:00 pm in the Sanctuary at Central.

In the 19th century, it was common to set poems to songs; Schubert, Schumann, Brahms were masters of the “lied.” An unusual development, first created by Georg Benda, was to create music for spoken texts. For example, Richard Strauss wrote a score to be played simultaneously with the recitation of Enoch Arden. This was called a “melodrama.”

Our version offers short classical selections played during breaks in the plot rather than performed over the spoken word. With enlarged, framed lithographs on easels, our program will give the audience a multi-media presentation of a dramatic recitation by our former minister CHRIS LANE, cello music by JEAN COONROD, piano music by MICHAEL COONROD, and art works that show scenes in the story.