Contemporary Art Songs are, in this writer's opinion, for the most part, a sad, misguided lot.

Their creators either attempt to fall into line behind the greats of the past, desperately striving to become "the next," or they jump through hoops, to prove - mostly unsuccessfully - that they are innovative, by grabbing anything within reach to somehow cobble together a sequence of more or less unfamiliar sounds.

Song cycles compound these offenses in direct proportion to the number of songs in the cycle, with the frosted topping of joining dutifully academic music to mystifyingly turgid texts.

There are two contemporary song cycles, vintage 1990s, however, that I hold very close to my heart as oases in a musical and poetic desert.

Ricky Ian Gordon's GENIUS CHILD sets the ravishing texts of Langston Hughes with lavish melodic and pianistic invention.

Maury Yeston's DECEMBER SONGS, set to his own texts, is a highly literate reinvention of Schubrt's DIE WINTERREISE, rendered in cabaret style.

At long last, thirty years later, there is now a third cycle to add, to form an elite triptych: Ray Leslee's MAYA SONGS, his setting of texts by Maya Anjelou, is sheer musical and theatrical magic.

As heard in a one-night-only sneak preview concert at St. Mark's in the Bowery, these songs provided an unforgettable performance occasion.

Leslee responds to the kaleidoscopic variety of styles in Angelou's texts by referring to a mixture of elements from established genres, transfiguring them to create a musical language that is apt, original, touching, and- dare I say it - unabashedly beautiful.

In his search for the truth, he has elevated and ennobled both his music and Angelou's texts.

As Jung stated so well:"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.'"

Each of the nine songs performed that evening is a complete dramatic episode unto itself - LES NUITS D'ETE and GURREIEDER come to mind - and therefore each can stand either alone or as part of the group.

Leslie's richness of musical invention, paired with his sensitive and rigorous articulation of the "parola scenica," poses enormous technical and interpretive challenges to the performers, and I am delighted to report that the duo of singers and the quintet of instrumentalists who made up the chamber ensemble that night could not have been bettered.

A virtuoso pair of songstresses, Meecah and Aisha de Haas, took the stage in alternation, each bringing unique qualities of timbre and dramatic engagement to their tour-de-force performances: Meecah's soaring tones and poignant ingenue persona the perfect foil to the mature and ironic Earth Mother wisdom of de Haas.

There is apparently ongoing discussion of creating a theatre piece as a frame for these songs, in addition to which I would suggest creating a short film. (Let's talk, Mr. Leslee!)

This concert was not the formal debut of the cycle, but a tantalizing preview.

Try and keep me away from the official Premiere!

Stay tuned for updates on these pages.