View source for Honey and Rue

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{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = ''Honey and Rue''
| image               = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| translation         = 
| native_name         = 
| native_name_lang    = 
| composer            = [[André Previn]]
| key                 = 
| catalogue           = 
| genre               =  
| form                = [[Song cycle]]
| text                = [[Toni Morrison]]
| language            = English
| melody              =
| composed            = <!-- {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|end_date={{End date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}}|location=}} -->
| performed           = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1992|01|05|df=y}}|location=[[Carnegie Hall]], New York City}} 
| published           = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1993|||df=y}}|location=[[Chester Music]], London}} 
| movements           = 
| scoring             = [[soprano]] and small orchestra
| misc                = 
}}

'''''Honey and Rue''''' is a [[song cycle]] composed by [[Oscars|Oscar]] and [[Grammy]] award winner [[André Previn]] and premiered by [[Kathleen Battle]], with words from poems by [[Nobel laureate]] [[Toni Morrison]].<ref name="Stein2009">{{cite book|author=Karen F. Stein|title=Reading, Learning, Teaching Toni Morrison|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3554BEVqIIC&pg=PA12|year=2009|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-1-4331-0223-3|pages=12–}}</ref> It is scored for a solo [[soprano]] and small orchestra and is influenced by the rhythms of [[jazz]], [[blues]] and American [[Spiritual (music)|spirituals]].<ref name="Gillespie2007">{{cite book|author=Carmen Gillespie|title=Critical Companion to Toni Morrison: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qo5h9LqqanAC&pg=PA256|year=2007|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-0857-5|pages=256–}}</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'' termed the composition "a model of understated luxury, rich and plastic without the need of ornament".<ref name="The New York Times" />

==History==
According to ''The Critical Companion to Toni Morrison'', Kathleen Battle had been moved by Morrison's novel ''[[The Bluest Eye]]'', and asked Previn and Morrison to create a song cycle for her. The cycle was ultimately commissioned by [[Carnegie Hall]].<ref name="Gillespie2007" /> The lyrics, according to the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', "move across a specifically black, urban, female landscape of experience".<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite web|last1=von Rhein|first1=John|title=Battle Serves 'Honey And Rue'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/02/18/battle-serves-honey-and-rue/|website=Chicago Tribune|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref>

It was premiered in 1992, sung by Battle in the Carnegie Hall, but most notably remembered as the [[Boston Symphony]]'s [[Tanglewood Festival]] opener, conducted by [[Seiji Ozawa]].<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite web|last1=Bernard|first1=Holland|title=Review/Music; Kathleen Battle Sings a Custom-Made Cycle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/13/arts/review-music-kathleen-battle-sings-a-custom-made-cycle.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> This was the first time Morrison had written for an original score.<ref name="Gillespie2007" /> The score was published in 1993 by [[Chester Music]].<ref>{{Cite book|oclc = 30907218|title = Honey and Rue: Six Songs for Soprano and Orchestra|isbn = 9780711932258|last1 = Previn|first1 = André|last2 = Morrison|first2 = Toni|year = 1994}}</ref> Battle also performed the work that year at the [[Ravinia Festival]] with conductor [[John Nelson (conductor)|John Nelson]] and the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/07/26/something-new-under-the-stars/|title=Something New Under The Stars: Previn's Song Cycle Gets Its Local Debut|date=July 26, 1993|author=John von Rhein|author-link=John von Rhein|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

Battle recorded the cycle with the [[Orchestra of St. Luke's]] and Previn conducting, on the  [[Deutsche Grammophon]] label in 1995, together with [[Samuel Barber]]'s ''[[Knoxville: Summer of 1915]]'', and [[George Gershwin]]'s, "[[I Loves You, Porgy]]" and "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]". In its review of the recording , the ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' praised the work as "a wonderful cycle with a splendid text".<ref name="The Baltimore Sun">{{cite web|last1=Wigler|first1=Stephen|title=Previn and Battle produce treasurable disc Savory: Recording's best part is 'Honey and Rue,' written by Andre Previn for Kathleen Battle|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/12/17/previn-and-battle-produce-treasurable-disc-savory-recordings-best-part-is-honey-and-rue-written-by-andre-previn-for-kathleen-battle/|website=The Baltimore Sun|publisher=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> That same year Battle sang the role with the [[New York Philharmonic]], conductor [[Leonard Slatkin]], and Toni Morrison as orator at [[Avery Fisher Hall]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/16/arts/music-review-life-after-met-goes-on-for-battle-next-door.html|title=Music Review: Life After Met Goes On For Battle, Next Door|date=December 16, 1995|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Anthony Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini}}</ref> Battle has also performed the work with other major orchestras, including the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] and conductor [[Esa-Pekka Salonen]] in 1997,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-07-ls-29628-story.html|title=Philharmonic Strikes Up Another Season|author=Mary Lou Loper|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 7, 1997}}</ref> the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] and conductor [[Gerard Schwarz]] at the [[Mann Center for the Performing Arts]] in 2000,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.philly.com/2000-07-29/entertainment/25608603_1_philadelphia-orchestra-summer-programs-honey-and-rue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528011317/http://articles.philly.com/2000-07-29/entertainment/25608603_1_philadelphia-orchestra-summer-programs-honey-and-rue|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 28, 2015|title=Battle Is Triumphant, Bernstein Is Battered The Soprano Was Exquisite In Songs And Spirituals. A "West Side" Medley For Orchestra Was Botched.|work=[[Philadelphia Media Network]]|author=David Patrick Stearns|author-link=David Patrick Stearns|date=July 29, 2000}}</ref> and the [[Detroit Symphony]] and conductor [[Thomas Wilkins (conductor)|Thomas Wilkins]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/3997.html|title=Detroit Symphony to Honor Kathleen Battle at Gala|date=27 February 2006|author=Ben Mattison|work=[[Playbill]]}}</ref>

Soprano [[Harolyn Blackwell]] has also performed the work several times with Previn as conductor, including performances with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York (1996),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/19/arts/classical.html|title=Classical|author=James R. Oestreich|author-link=James R. Oestreich|work=[[The New York Times]]|date= October 19, 1996}}</ref> the [[Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra]] (1998),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19981113&id=0YwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4000,1508013&hl=en|title=No Limits: Two Distinctive Singers Who Dare To Cross The Lines of Style|author=Robert Croan|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]}}</ref> the [[NHK Symphony Orchestra]] in Tokyo (1999), and the [[Oslo Philharmonic]] (2001).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2001/03/30/250227.html|title=Musikalsk vismann|date=30 March 2001|work=[[Dagbladet]]}}</ref>  Previn led the Oslo Philharmonic in performances of the work again in 2006, this time with soprano [[Nicole Cabell]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kulturspeilet.no/2006/10/20/|title=Korenes korverk|date=20 October 2006}}</ref> More recently, soprano [[Jeanine De Bique]] performed the cycle to open the 102nd season of ''Matinee Musicale'' in the Anderson Center in [[Cincinnati]] in May 2015.<ref name=Cincinnati.com>{{cite web|last1=Gelfand|first1=Janelle|title=Soprano soars in André Previn's Honey and Rue|url=http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/arts/2014/10/02/anderson-opera-matinee-musicale-art-song-cincinnati/16593393/|website=Cincinnati.com|publisher=Cincinnati.com|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> Soprano [[Elizabeth Futral]] is scheduled to sing the work in August 2015 with the [[Pacific Symphony]].

==Cycle==
#"First I'll Try Love"
#"Whose House Is This"
#"The Town Is Lit"
#"Do You Know Him"
#"I Am Not Seaworthy"
#"Take My Mother Home"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Fontaine, Jeanette. "He Sang, She Sang: The Gendered Song Cycle." Journal of Singing 70.1 (2013): 97.
*Gingerich, Katrina. "The Journey of the Song Cycle: From “The Iliad” to “American Idiot." Musical Offerings 1.2 (2010): 3.
*Baby, Tar, et al. "Works byToni Morrison." Toni Morrison (2010): 307.

==External links==
*[http://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0001798145 ''Honey and Rue''] on [[AllMusic]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honey and Rue}}
[[Category:Song cycles]]
[[Category:André Previn albums]]
[[Category:1992 compositions]]
[[Category:Works by Toni Morrison]]