[78-L] Kipling as Lyricist

[David Lewis]

Don Chichester wrote:
Years ago, when doing my radio show, I considered a show devoted to the words of Kipling set to music. "On the Road to Mandalay" comes immediatelly to mind, as well as "I Learnt About Women from 'Er". I didn't do the show because I couldn't locate enough songs. Can anyone along the line add others songs based on Kipling's poems?
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Charles Ives made a setting of Kipling's poem "Tarrant Moss" around 1900; when he tried to secure permission to use it for publication in 1922, Kipling's publisher refused, so Ives published two versions of the song - one with just a vocal incipit from the Kipling, the other with Ives' own deliberately terrible text, "Slugging a Vampire," which is a riot.
 
Then there's French composer Charles Koechlin's sprawling megacycle "Les Bandar Log" (1899-1939), not all of which is vocal, but the whole is based on "The Jungle Book." The opening "Seal Lullaby" is one of the most beautiful orchestral songs I think I've ever heard, and opens my radio program here. 
 
http://uncledavelewis.podOmatic.com/entry/2008-08-18T17_47_24-07_00
 
Thanks Ron, for your extra effort. It's great to back on the list, and I sure did miss all these folks.
Uncle Dave Lewisuncledavelewis at hotmail.com
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