New Release from Rhapsodize Audio!

A Shakespeare Gallimaufry

A hodgepodge rhapsody of speeches, sonnets, and scenes from the works of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon performed by the rhapsodes of Rhapsodize Audio.

 May 17, 2013

1. A Rhapsody of Words - performed by Denis Daly, Caprisha Page, Jannie Meisberger, and Bob Gonzalez
2. How Sweet the Moonlight - Lorenzo from The Merchant of Venice - performed by Winston Tharp
3. Hamlet's Speech to the Players - performed by Bob Gonzalez
4. Sonnet 130 - performed by Alan Weyman
5. Apemantus from Timon of Athens – performed by Martin Geeson
6. Sonnet 34 – performed by Carol Box
7. Selected Speeches from Julius Caesar - performed by Bob Gonzalez
8. Sonnet 18 – performed by Rhonda Federman
9. Lear Against the Storm – performed by Jason Mills
10. Nine Sonnets – performed by Denis Daly
11. Selections from Henry IV & V - performed by Bob Gonzalez
12. Kings and Cares – A Selection - performed by Alan Weyman
13. Ramblings of Lady Macbeth – performed by Bev Stevens
14. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Monologues – performed by Denis Daly
15. Cymbeline Act 1 scene 6 – performed by Carol Box and David Richardson
16. Prospero’s Elegy from The Tempest – performed by Alan Weyman
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Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month - April 2013 Complete

There is now a poem for every day of this month, April 2013 available for download either on our Rhapsodize Audio Catalog Page, directly on the Internet Archive, where the actual files are stored, or you may access them directly through the links below:

Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month – April 2013

Performed by rhapsodes of Rhapsodize

1. Introduction to the Project and Poem: When I Was One and Twenty by A.E. Housman, performed by Bob Gonzalez
2. A Song for a Man by Emerson Hough, performed by Denis Daly
3. Dark Sheila by Agatha Christie, performed by Winston Tharp
4, My Comforter by Anonymous, performed by Jannie Meisberger
5. Wordsworth by Lord Byron, performed by Caprisha Page
6. Love is Enough by William Morris, performed by Carol Box
7. De Gustibus by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson
8. A Contemplation Upon Flowers by Henry King, performed by Bob Gonzalez
9. Room! by Angela Morgan performed by Denis Daly
10. L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune by William Faulkner, performed by Winston Tharp
11. Mother Nature by George McDonald, performed by Jannie Meisberger
12. Abdication of Napoleon by William Makepeace Thackeray, performed by Caprisha Page
13. The Dream by John Donne, performed by Carol Box
14. A Grammarian’s Funeral by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson
15. The Invitation by Percy Bysshe Shelley, performed by Bob Gonzalez
16. Out of the Past by Edwin Preston Dargan, performed by Denis Daly
17. A Study in Gray by Ambrose Bierce, performed by Winston Tharp
18. Opportunity by Walter Malone, performed by Jannie Meisberger
19. An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramatic Poet, W. Shakespeare by John Milton, performed by Caprisha Page
20. Sometime Childish by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, performed by Carol Box
21. Mesmerism by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson
22. Poems to Julia by Robert Herrick, performed by Bob Gonzalez
23. Sonnets 123, 75, & 23 by William Shakespeare, performed by Bob Gonzalez
24. The Jew to Jesus by Florence Kiper Frank, performed by Denis Daly
25. April Is In My Mistress’ Face by Thomas Morley, performed by Winston Tharp
26. The Journey of Life by William Cullen Bryant, performed by Jannie Meisberger
27. On His Being Arrived to the Age of Twenty-Three by John Milton, performed by Caprisha Page
28. Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson
29. Gone by Carl Sandburg, performed by Denis Daly
30. Birches by Robert Frost, performed by Winston Tharp

Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month April 2013 - Eight New Poems -> April 14

Eight new poems have been added to Rhapsodize's Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month, April 2013.
Click here to listen!

De Gustibus by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson
A Contemplation Upon Flowers by Henry King, performed by Bob Gonzalez
Room! by Angela Morgan performed by Denis Daly
L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune by William Faulkner, performed by Winston Tharp
Mother Nature by George McDonald, performed by Jannie Meisberger
Abdication of Napoleon by William Makepeace Thackeray, performed by Caprisha Page
The Dream by John Donne, performed by Carol Box
A Grammarian's Funeral by Robert Browning, performed by Martin Geeson

Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month - April 2013 Rhapsodize Project underway

The rhapsodes of Rhapsodize begin their Poem-a-Day for U.S. Poetry Month project with classic poems by these six poets: A.E. Housman, Emerson Hough, Agatha Christie, Anonymous, Lord Byron, and William Morris performed by Bob Gonzalez, Denis Daly, Winston Tharp, Jannie Meisberger, Caprisha Page, and Carol Box.

Introduction to the Project and Poem: When I Was One and Twenty by A.E. Housman, performed by Bob Gonzalez
A Song for a Man by Emerson Hough, performed byDenis Daly
Dark Sheila by Agatha Christie, performed by Winston Tharp
My Comforter by Anonymous, performed by Jannie Meisberger
Wordsworth by Lord Byron, performed by Caprisha Page
Love is Enough by William Morris, performed by Carol Box

Two New Rhapsodies Available from Rhapsodize

The Burning Bush, rhapsodized by Denis Daly, and The "Damned Morbid Poetry" of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, rhapsodized by Winston Tharp, is now live on the Internet Archive and the Rhapsodize Audio Rhapsodies Catalog.

Eclectic Rhapsody I Completed with The Seven Ages of Man

The seven rhapsodes of Rhapsodize finished the year 2012 with a group performance of William Shakespeare's speech, The Seven Ages of Man added to our maiden project, Eclectic Rhapsody I. The bard placed these words in the mouth of the melancholy Jaques in his comedy, As You Like It. Each of our rhapsodes - Caprisha Page, Carol Box, Jannie Meisberger, Winston Tharp, Martin Geeson, Denis Daly and Bob Gonzalez performs a phrase from the introduction and one of the ages of man.

The Seven Ages of Man

Eclectic Rhapsody I  (Internet Archive page) - featuring twelve rhapsodies from our troupe of seven rhapsodes.

Eclectic Rhapsody I (Rhapsodize Audio Catalog page)

Happy New Year to all and be sure to look for new rhapsodies in 2013!!

Rhapsodize Podcast #1

Rhapsodize Podcast #1

Now Live on the Internet Archive

Reverberance: A Poetic Rhapsody and Call for Rhapsodes

Duration 44:36

Created, hosted and performed by 

Bob Gonzalez

Featuring an excerpt from Plato's Ion and poetry by Walt Whitman, Homer, Hesiod, William Shakespeare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, Robert Frost, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Announcing ECLECTIC RHAPSODY I

ECLECTIC RHAPSODY I

Maiden Project of RHAPSODIZE!

Now Live on the Internet Archive

Eclectic Rhapsody I

Featuring the poetry of Wilfred Owen, John Gillespie Magee, John Keats, Dante, Alfred Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, Robert Browning, Christina Rossetti, Homer, Hesiod, and Horace.

Performed by rhapsodes:

Gerard Sutcliffe, Martin Geeson, Carol Box, Caprisha Page, & Bob Gonzalez

This maiden project will continue to expand throughout 2012.

RHAPSODIZE! Home Page

RHAPSODIZE! Catalog Page

RHAPSODIZE! is a classic poetry performance initiative that seeks to popularize rhapsodies (performances of classic poetry) and cultivate rhapsodes (performers of classic poetry).

Leda and the Swan by W. B. Yeats

Performed by Bob González, rhapsode

Leda and the Swan by W. B. Yeats

A sudden blow: the great wings beating still
Above the staggering girl, her thighs caressed
By the dark webs, her nape caught in his bill,
He holds her helpless breast upon his breast.

How can those terrified vague fingers push
The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?
And how can body, laid in that white rush,
But feel the strange heart beating where it lies?

A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.
                    Being so caught up,
So mastered by the brute blood of the air,
Did she put on his knowledge with his power
Before the indifferent beak could let her drop?

Poet Bio at Poets.org

Shakespearean Sonnet Celebration

A collection of 21 sonnets by William Shakespeare.

Visit the Internet Archive page to listen in streaming audio or to download all or selected files

Or click on any single sonnet to download now:

146 Poor Soul! The Centre
138 When My Love Swears
129 The Expense of Spirit
154 The Little Love God
73 That Time of Year
91 Some Glory In Their Birth
21 So Is It Not With Me
65 Since Brass Nor Stone
148 O Me, What Eyes Hath Love
123 No, Time, Thou Shalt Not Boast
71 No Longer Mourn For Me
33 Full Many a Glorious Morning
153 Cupid Laid By His Brand
103 Alack! What Poverty
63 Against My Love Shall Be
27 Weary With Toil
02 When Forty Winters
12 When I Do Count the Clock
15 When I Consider Everything
75 So Are You To My Thoughts
76 Why Is My Verse

These were recorded in April 2011 as part of a personal project in observance of U.S. Poetry Month. I memorized one poem per day, including all of these sonnets. I have been recording texts for LibriVox since May 2011 and when going back to these recordings I made as I studied and memorized these sonnets, I find that these have more vigor and polish than most of the poetry recordings (and other recordings) I made for LibriVox. I believe this is because I studied each of these sonnet intensively across an entire waking in order to perform them from memory in the evening. Consequently, I believe they are more "mine" than all of the LibriVox recordings I have made because, since the end goal is simply to record from a script, I do not "internalize" the texts to the degree I did when the end goal was performing from memory. This brings out an important consideration. Should I prepare all pieces as if I was going to perform them live from memory? Of course, many pieces would never come to be if they had to be performed this way - entire novels and anything of any significant length. Even shorter texts require exponentially more time to memorize than to read from a script. Is it possible to have the same vigor and passion in readings as from live performances from memory? I think the danger inherent in the live memorized piece can bring out the energy and vitality mostly absent from a piece read from a script. How could that danger be - or some equally effective equivalent - be introduced into readings?

In any case, I hope you enjoy listening to these as much as I enjoyed and benefited from them.